Joining any new company typically comes with a hearty dose of first-day jitters (and let's face it — those jitters often last many months). But making the pivot from larger companies to joining a fledgling startup for the first time packs on an extra layer of change to navigate.

You've likely heard that working at a startup is like building a plane while flying it. But Laura Behrens Wu, co-founder and CEO of Shippo, adds another layer that brings the metaphor to life more vividly: "Working at a startup is like building the jet engine while you're flying the plane. And likely there's also a fire on the plane."

And while there's plenty of startup advice aimed towards founders and leaders building that plane from scratch — from finding product/market fit, getting customer feedback, and fundraising — there are far fewer playbooks for those who are boarding that still-in-progress plane as a crew member. Advice on this front tends to be on the generic side — like vaguely inspirational Twitter posts that say "Don't worry about titles" that get shared over and over again.

To more clearly sketch out the dos and don'ts in those formative first few months in a new startup employee's tenure, we reached out to some of the sharpest startup leaders and operators we know for their favorite unexpected tip for someone joining a startup for the first time.

Joining a Startup for the First Time? 30 Actionable Tips From Folks Who’ve Been There

The responses we got back were top-notch, with a fountain of advice that breaks the mold. The tips tackle everything our group of experts (that hail from top companies like Upstart, Netflix, and Shopify) wishes they had known in the early startup days. Some tactics focus on how to approach DIY-onboarding, others zoom in on prioritizing your mile-long to-do list. Plenty of folks hone in on the mindset shift that startups require, including tactical advice on how to adopt an owner's mentality. We've broken everything down by topic so you can easily navigate what lies ahead (and you'll notice we took that plane metaphor to new heights — apologies for all the flight-related puns coming your way.)

We hope this collection provides a detailed playbook for keeping your wits about you and a clear head when you climb aboard as an early employee. Thanks, as always, for reading and sharing!

-The Review editors

Here's a sneak peek at the tips:

-One of the biggest wastes at a startup is valuable people delivering the wrong work at high quality. Communicate clearly and regularly, especially these two items: 1) What you understand to be the current highest priority project and focus area, and 2) What you are currently working on.

-Constantly ask how you can simplify and speed up. What can be squeaked out as an MVP at 60%? What actually needs to be done closer to 90%? Get super comfortable with things not being perfect, while continuing to hold high standards for yourself and the team.

-I started keeping a weekly log. I make a note of one thing I've done and one thing I've learned each week. Startups allow you to wear so many hats and contribute at so many levels that it's fun to see all the ways you grow and all the parts of the organization you touch over time.

-When a startup grows fast your role might change and initially it may feel like it's changing for the worse because people are getting hired above you and your scope shrinks. However, it's much more exciting to have a smaller scope of a high-growth pie that keeps growing to be a bigger pie than to own the entire pie but have it stay small.

-As an employee, you need to understand how your company actually makes money (which is often not nearly as transparent as it would seem). You want to be able to say "We make money every time our customer Xs and it costs us money when they Y."

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