Lots of people find there’s something exciting about a chance to join something new, fresh, and dynamic. Though for those who are risk-averse it can be a little daunting, there can be amazing advantages to joining a start-up.

You might help to build something significant, rapidly grow into more responsibility as the company expands, and if you’re early enough you might get some equity that actually becomes worth something… We’ve known a graduate PPC executive's shares earn him £350K after 3 years! He's now one of the most respected search practitioners in the UK, in part due to picking the right company to gain experience.

But how do you know whether you’re joining a dud or the next big thing? You’re always going to be taking a leap of faith, but here are some suggestions on how to size an opportunity up:

FOUNDERS – what’s their history? Have they done it before? What’s their approach to margins/growth? If they haven’t had big successes, then who is advising them? Search online (LinkedIn, Crunchbase, director search on sites like Duedil, news articles, etc.) & ask questions directly.

FOLLOW THE MONEY – are they well capitalised (this may mean your options are worth little, depending on how capital was raised)? What record to the VCs have? If they’re not; why not & is their sector attracting funding? CB Insights is a great resource for this.

CULTURE – it can take a while to mature, but leadership with a clear vision will be able to articulate this early on. Before undertaking a possibly intense (hopefully rewarding!) journey, you should be confident you can have at least a little fun with those around you.

LEARNING – if you’re the first in your department, do you still have someone you can learn from, a mentor within/without the business? Or are you confident of mastering your own development to keep pace with the best of the rest? In my experience, founders will often (but not always) have a strong network to tap into in this regard.

What are your thoughts? What would be your main concerns before joining a start-up?

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We’ve built marketing teams in several early stage start-ups who have gone on to join the unicorn club. We currently partner a number of hugely exciting early stage companies, and despite them being amongst the most demanding clients, it’s a real delight to work with businesses looking to change the way the world works.

Feel free to reach out via tom@sumo-creative.co.uk if you’d like to know the latest on these. Alternatively, why not take a look at www.sumo-creative.co.uk for a flavour of the opportunities we cater for.