Edward Anders: Why I chose the Founder’s Associate Role

“Before Jumpstart, I had always assumed that I had to go down the corporate route. But I’d always seen the consulting route as a means to an end – I knew I wanted to end up working in a start-up or an early stage company”

Edward had spent a large portion of his final year applying to consultancy grad schemes, before being recommended Jumpstart by a friend.

“I actually applied to Jumpstart during my final year exams. Then suddenly, I found myself in this position where I’d just finished university, just started my summer break, and had 50 startups or so pitching to me, saying `come work for us!’”

He’s now working as Founder’s Associate at Compose, an inbox management tool to make all of your inboxes work better together. 

“I was very keen on the Founder’s Associate role. I knew, coming from a multidisciplinary, joint honours degree, that I was more of a generalist. But the single defining factor for me wasn’t the type of start-up, or their backers, but just the Founder. I wanted to be excited by them, not just what they were doing.”

The Founder’s Associate role is a great opportunity to learn about all aspects of a business, whilst working directly with a startup Founder. 

“I love that I get to context-switch so regularly. I can get involved with absolutely everything, from operations to accounting, to strategy, to the product and design side of things. I’ve been able to learn things that I would have never anticipated.”

Looking back on his startup experience more generally, Edward has one piece of advice for our audience:

“I think my big piece of advice would be to go with your gut. If it feels right, it most likely will be right. When you’re being pitched to, look for that spark with a Founder, their ideas or the startup mission”