As part of the NUS Overseas College (NOC) programme, my 5-month internship at Databutton started on 27th January 2025. The following documents my journey and learnings while working there.
This is, without a doubt, the most important thing to get right in a startup. With so few resources, the influence of each individual on the company’s success is significantly higher than in a larger, more established company. This makes hiring decisions from the early stages crucial.
It takes a special type of person to work in a startup. These individuals do not settle for the status quo. They have independent minds and want to leave their mark on the world. They could be hobbyists turned engineers or experienced academics wanting to see how far their skills can take them. There’s one thing that unites them — their passion for the product.
As far as I can tell, there are currently (as of 12th February 2025) 9 people working actively at Databutton. That’s 9 individuals working in a company valued at tens of millions of dollars. That’s 9 individuals who, through their collaboration, have jointly created tens of millions of dollars of value in the span of just a few years. The Databutton team is constantly thinking about how to improve the product. Every day presents new challenges — this invigorates them. Each member of the team not only specializes in their own area of expertise, but they also specialize in the area they are most passionate about and most competent in.
Each of them is also closely in touch with customers while working on the product. They each have customers assigned to them, whom they help resolve issues with the product. So each day they learn about relevant issues, raise them with the team, iterate on the product, and make that consistent 1% improvement in the product.
It’s always a race against time. Startups have to keep outthinking their competitors and capturing market share. Every day presents new challenges, and there’s no one member on the team who is not giving their best. This means that even though manpower resources are stretched thin, everyone is fully utilising their talents and so altogether, the resources are maximised. This presents a much more efficient use of resources than in a larger company.
There’s still benefits to working in a small team. Members of the team can go straight to the subject matter expert on their team to get answers to their questions. To get approval for a new feature or to ask about how to improve the product, they just walk over to the founder’s desk. This lack of bureaucracy allows the team to move fast and innovate. This flattening of the traditional hierarchy means that less time is spend on pleasantries or politics and more is spent on the product.
Sometimes, the members put on different hats. For instance, the engineers will sometimes collaborate on a marketing idea, identify the key features that the target customers would want and sharing how best to portray them. This allows a fusion of ideas from different perspectives which often brings about better solutions.
Each member on the team pulls their weight. They genuinely want to see the company succeed. It’s hard to say the same for larger companies.
The founders are not just thinkers. They are also doers.
Ideas are constantly being thrown to them. It’s their job to evaluate the foremost priority and say no (or keep in view) to everything else. This allows the team to stay focused on the work that will return the greatest value to the company.
It’s the founder’s job to constantly remind the team about their vision for the company. It’s their job to make the team believe that they are in the future and that the team is simply there to reverse engineer the solution to the problem.
The founders must be clear about who their customers are. Only individuals looking to screw a screw will appreciate a screwdriver. So what if 99% of the population won’t need a screwdriver? If that 1% appreciates the quality and usability of the screwdriver, that’s all that matters.
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Working in a startup is nothing like working in a large company. Because of how small the team is, you realise how much importance you have on the company’s success. The team is also very passionate about the product, and are always thinking about how to improve it. Working in Databutton has been invigorating and energising. There’s something exciting to look forward to every day.
Disclaimer: The ideas presented in this post are solely my personal perspective and have not been substantiated by any verifiable evidence. Please form your own opinions on such matters.