Learning

I am Neytiri for SmugMug. We are all SmugMug Heroes.

I started a new job at the end of September last year.  This announcement is 5 months late.  Back then, I was too busy mourning the end of my sabbatical to notice  the amazing blessing of a job that  I’d found at SmugMug.  (Clearly, my emotions have a tendency of running a little behind when it comes to acclimating to the many changes that life has brought over the last six months).  SmugMug is a family-run business that specializes in enabling photographers (soccer moms, travelers, wedding pros) to safely archive, share and print their beautiful pictures.  It was a little unreal to stumble upon an opportunity that so neatly fit into my short list of favorite things to do (write, travel, photograph).  I still have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that I get to work where I play, and play where I work.

Interestingly, the last few months haven’t been a cake walk.  Not only did I have to get used to working again, but I also had to get used to working for a small company.  I’m employee number 70.  And considering that by the time I left GOOG it was nearing 22,000 employees, and that it was my very first real job, I hadn’t a clue what awaited me at Smug.  I came in assuming that marketing strategy and campaigns would be easier and faster to implement.  I was sure that the lack of politics, processes and approvals would enable me to hit the ground running and launch faster than ever before.  I realized quickly that the differences are far more complicated than size alone.  Here are some of my learnings.

How to transition from a large company to small

Stay Humble
It’s so easy to leave a large company feeling full of yourself.  Really. The reward systems present in large organizations (promotions, bonuses, peer bonuses, 360 degree evaluations, mid quarter reviews, status reports etc etc) are designed to push employees to best perform for the benefit of the company, while at the same time rewarding employee morale and ego.  This is not to say that these reward systems are wrong. They just seem to matter less in smaller companies.  It’s not about the number of promotions you’ve received or the score you earned in Q1 calibrations.  It’s about making an impact, however large or small, to the bottom line of a business whose health directly depends on the output of practical, focused and committed work that you do on a daily basis.  Nobody cares if you’ve got an MBA or how many promotions you earned in your previous role.  Can you get the job done, no matter how trivial, manual or tedious?  And can you do it yourself, with zero budget, with zero resources, and with high impact?  That’s what matters.  Your sweat, your tears, your effort all matter.  Literally.

Be Frugal and Prioritize
This is a hard one to learn.  Coming from a company where cotton candy fell from the sky and roads were paved in gold, there was no chance that the next company, no matter how great, could compete.  And I’m not referring to perks like free food, flex time, beautiful offices and great benefits, because, amazingly, I’m extremely lucky to have landed at a small company that has all of these things!  I’m talking about resources.  Engineers, designers, HR people, PR people etc.  We’re small and everybody is stretched to the max of their capacity.  There’s always more work than can ever be done.  Prioritization becomes the thin line between success and failure.  It’s not possible to do everything and it’s not wise.  Limited resources push you to rank initiatives based on importance, impact and scale.

Sit at the Table and Be Heard
There’s nowhere to hide in a small company.  What you say and what you do will be noticed.  Every email, every campaign, every idea will put you on the center stage.  It’s a great opportunity to shine and contribute ideas that may not necessarily be within the scope of your role.  This has been one of my favorite things about working at a <100 person company: insight into product management, direct involvement in business development and partnerships, close relationships with design and support.  It’s been an amazing learning experience, enriching not only in terms of the marketing work that I do, but also because of my exposure to the rest of the business.  This kind of collaboration is hard to achieve in a large company.

Get Personal
Small companies are, well, small.  This means fit is just as important as ability.  Personal relationships with the people that you work with are key.  Spend time to get to know your colleagues.  Really hone in on what motivates them, where they come from, how best they work.  Though occasionally I miss the big-city feel of being in a large corporation (big parties, dozens of familiar faces, gossip and intrigue, the option to remain anonymous of I so inclined), the lack of politics, process and power struggle in a small company makes for a much more relaxed daily work life.

Find Peace in Chaos
I thought I was going to go into SmugMug and create structure, order, process.  I planned to make things more efficient, more organized, more … like me.  But I soon realized that I wasn’t going to be able to do that and I was going to kill myself trying.  Chaos/randomness is inherent in a small company, where resources are constrained and where autonomy isn’t only a privilege but also necessity.  We don’t do meetings, we don’t do power point, we don’t do approvals.  We iterate, we talk, we try and we do.  It’s a wonderful and refreshing change from big-company structure and process.  Once I learned to embrace the chaos, the fun began.

Everyday is a new adventure now and I’m so thankful for it all. The ability to try new things, to own big projects, to work with motivated people and to make a real difference in a growing company, has made all the difference in the world in terms of my work-life happiness. So great.

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