Virtues of a startup employee

KOCHI: “Patience is not an ability to wait, but to keep a good attitude while waiting.” Joyce Meyer. 
Any startup is like an unfinished diamond. It needs one to have commitment and patience; only then can he make a shining diamond and therefore survive in this venture. Let’s explore some virtues expected by a startup employee:

1) Love the work you do: A person who loves one’s job is considered the aptest person for a startup. For a person who love’s his work is always ready to push his limits to accomplish his goals. 
2) ThinkTank: A person with a bundle of ideas and the ability to think out of the box can scratch the code of success. Keep exploring more information regarding your work and try to bring forth better ideas on the table.

3) Patience: What is most imperative to be in a startup employee is patience for opportunities. One should remember the fact getting the place as an employee is just a baby step. Hard work and persistence can hon you for a better career.

4) Farsightedness: A lot of people miss the bigger picture. In their minds, they are not able to imagine what it will be like when the startup succeeds. And thus, their work is very short-termed. A hustler can see what the future will be like when your startup is big and he thus doesn’t aim for smaller short-term rewards.

5) Respect for Networking: A lot of initial startup days are all about support from networking. My first comic book artist was a school friend who decided to support me in the venture at a very minimal cost (as we couldn’t afford big back then). My first partner at Comic-Con sales booth was a hometown friend who travelled all the way to another city just to help me out (She wasn’t even part of the startup then). My first webcomic doodler was a neighbour from Bengaluru apartment. The employee with the right mindset understands this and respects networks. They maintain a rich relationship with people around and genuinely help people. 

6) Independent Thinking: I remember leaving a fresher in my office and going out for two hours to grab a snack. By the time I came back, I realised he had found a broken printer in our office, had realised its utility in coming days and fixed it by calling CS without my requiring to tell him. In startup days, the founders have very little time. And if employees keep looking at you for guidance for even the smallest of things – that could be quite dangerous.

Independent thinkers will do the job alone and will not wait for your commands to execute. They know what’s best for the company and will not bother you for trivial jobs.Rajeev Tamhankar is Founder, TBS Planet Comics, ex-IITR, Flipkart, Xiaomi. The views expressed by the author are his own. For any queries, please write to Rajeev on Rajeev@TBSPlanet.com