You’ve packed up your desk at Lehman Brothers, rolled up that AIG umbrella and headed to the pub. But wait, there is still hope!
For years, one of the biggest challenges facing UK Internet startups (and startups in Europe generally) startups has been the competition for technical talent, especially the attraction of the City and financial services. It was very difficult for a venture-backed startup to compete with the compensation packages offered by the big investment banks.
Now, no-one wants to “stamp on the grave” of companies while people are losing their livelihood, but there is now an opportunity for startup companies to attract seasoned, technical talent. That means you! 
So, consider joining a startup. You can read about them every day on TechCrunch UK and we even have a Jobs board, which is poised to explode I daresay…
A startup probably won’t offer the creature comforts of a job in the financial services industry, but it’s fun, there is barely any office politics and you get stock options to share on the upside. Plus, you get to work form home a lot.
[With apologies to Leavewallstreetjoinastartup.com ]
You forgot to mention that many startups are changing how things are done.
At a startup – you get more control over what happens with the company and you probably wont need to wear a suit
Steve
I left Merrill Lynch about 6 months ago to work on NewsCred full time. Have never looked back – the best decision of my life probably. Startups are proof that ordinary people can do extraordinary things!
Thanks for the timely and important perspective Mike. It is not all as gloomy as it might seem.
For those that are able to see how the markets have shifted it’s an great opportunity that others can only see after months or years when the dust has settled.
If one looks back the best companies were always found not when the economy was booming, but rather when the markets have gone south and the prospects for quick promotions and bonuses were slim. Thus, finding skilled and experienced individuals to assemble a killer team for a startup is easier than before, since even skilled workers are not as up beat about their career prospects as they were before Monday. If ever, this is the time to go after that dream and assemble a killer team around your idea. Go for it!
I left Credit Suisse some four years ago. Gotta say some weeks I look back frequently! but hey ho, onwards and upwards.
On a serious note: probably a 9 month acclimatisation period required to adjust from marbled halls to start up heaven (mayhem)
I hope startups will remember the contracts of employment for such individuals should certainly include a specific clause to ensure that the new employees are not tempted to start buying up and selling on the debts of other startups’ customers.
Sadly the website is US only.
Get some more start up jobs for London or the UK listed.
We currently have opportunities for people in the financial services to become ‘marketplace leaders’ of the financial categories in ki work – to essentially lease, build and profit from their own global marketplace of virtual work in their field of expertise.
see our recent blog post at http://ki-work.com/blog
Most of the financial services technical people would make excellent startup employees, just need to get them out of the pub for more than a few hours a day hahahaha. Having worked in that sector, they will fit in great with the startup scene….
I left Canary Wharf 2 years ago to start Pintarget.com.
Never looked back. Just had to ween myself off the lifestyle!
Cliched but true: the greatest journeys all start one step at a time.
Amazingly, Google mobile is requiring bids higher than £18 per click to catch the Lehmans keyword. I wonder if its people offering jobs to the 5000 (via Mippin Mobile)
There were stock options at Lehmans too…
@ David Stobs-Stobart
How the hell do you make a living from that start up….you have only just launched it………where you been for 2 years…..spending all them fat bonuses on your big fat yacht in the med
People lost their job Mike, what a terrible opening sentence. Are you honestly that naive – do you consider the perks that a major multicorp will offer equal to what a startup can offer, especially to people used to the first kind of lifestyle for several years?
Its a little soon to try and work out where this is all headed. Hopefully we’ll get some stability back. I think that the government will start to tackle those investors who have helped drive stocks down. We need leaders and entrepreneurs now more than ever before.
So where is the best place in the UK to find people leaving the city and wanting to join a start up?
I’m looking for someone with sales and partnership experience for my start up Photolate Photo Retouching
Good day! skeletal side effects accutane
ouesvf hi! how you doin?