I had a chat with an acquaintance who recently switched companies. His last company was a multinational with over a hundred thousand employees. The new one is domestic and has a few thousand employees. I asked him why he left. He said the company had low energy, and he wanted to be in a more energetic environment.

I haven’t heard it described like that before, but I understand. I haven’t worked in a large company in ages. But when I did, it was low energy in comparison to my start-up experience. Don’t get me wrong, people worked hard. But the energy was completely different. No one was excited to be there. I didn’t buy into (or even really understand) the vision and mission. Regardless of the outcome of my team’s work, things would continue as they had before.  

When I became a founder, going to work was the polar opposite. Every day was a new challenge, the stakes were high, and we were excited to be there. There were tons of ups and downs, and it was always electric. I’m not working inside a start-up anymore, but I talk with lots of founders and investors who are helping start-ups. I’m surrounded by passion and energy for what people are trying to build, and I love that. I think start-up energy is hard to replicate. It’s one of the reasons I’ve stayed close to start-ups for years.

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