A look at startup friendly workers

I have had frequent conversations related to resources for early stage startups this year.  Recruiting for a startup that is still being bootstrapped and surviving on a shoestring budget, can be a bit precarious.  Similar to go with the right kind of angel investor, it requires finding the right kind of motivated person.  My team has helped our business for a variety of reasons, but all of them really believe in our business idea and the competency of our founders. Here are three groups of workers that have been really startup friendly.

In looking for non-salary resources for Bimotics, the first place most founders look have been for student interns.  This is a great place to start, in that college students have the time for part-time jobs.  There are also win-win conditions in that interns can get exposure and experience to real-life work.  If you are lucky enough to get real go-getter then the business impact is definitely positive.  The obvious risk, is that often young adults need a lot of supervision and detailed explanation.

In the Femgineer session this week, Poornima mentioned that the retired and semi-retired can be a demographic with both time and experience.  Often because they have been able to retire, they don’t need to financial compensation that you can’t provide anyway.  I have friends that have had much success with getting sweat equity out of their parents.  At Bimotics, we have engaged with the semi-retired mostly in for business advice.  With our location in Florida, there is plenty supply of ex-executives and small business owners that will readily give you their two cents.  Most of the advice has been helpful but keep in mind some advice may be a little dated.

The final group of individuals that has proven to be startup friendly are stay at home moms.  With more and more women in the workforce and getting advanced degrees, I have found that there is a wealth of expertise and desire to “stay relevant” while they take time out to raise their kids. I have met many women who say they miss the intellectual stimulation when they leave work to stay home. So being able to do small properly scoped projects for a startup from home, can be a good thing.  As a founder, I don’t always have time to learn everything, nor actively manage a resource.  Working moms that have a wealth of relevant skill and can run with a project with little supervision has proved to be a plus.