Abhi Lokesh and Alex Theodore are co-founders of Fracture, a start-up company based in Gainesville, Florida, and are constantly searching for the perfect team. They both agree that finding the right people to join the company is their biggest challenge.

“To me, it’s somewhat personal,” says Lokesh. “I want to prove that Fracture can be the best decision you ever made as a young professional, and that we can turn you into the best version of yourself.”

So, what do you get out of working at a start-up? Well, we all know you get free lunch at Google. But don’t expect that at all start-ups. Correction: don’t expect that at most start-ups. Do expect a never-ending workload, a lot of stress, and very few resources.  Though you may not get free lunch, there are other perks.

 Here are select responses from members of the Fracture team, who reveal some of those perks and what it takes to work at a start-up like Fracture. They work hard, but they also appear to wholeheartedly love their job, which might make you wonder what this start-up culture breeds.

What is it like to work at Fracture? 

Matthew Bivens, Marketing: It’s like no other place I’ve ever worked at, that’s for sure.  Our culture has evolved organically, and has become more defined as we have grown.  Our office environment is relaxed and casual: employees can decorate their work spaces and really make them their own (can also set up shop wherever they like); we wear what we want for the most part, still maintaining a somewhat professional demeanor (no “free mustache rides” t-shirts); and we’re allowed to bring our pets into the offices, which is a huge plus.  In typical startup fashion we have instruments of all kinds in our office, we host poker nights and try to make a point to get out and enjoy each others company outside of work on a regular basis.  We’re a family, and that’s apparent after only a few minutes of hanging out with us.

The workload here is consistently high — this is a startup, so everyone has a to-do list with more work than there are hours in a day.  Each of us was hired for a specific job, but inevitably we all wear many hats.  It’s typical to see a marketing person helping out in production, or a customer service rep brainstorming to improve packaging workflow.

Sarah Ludwig, Custom Orders: It can be really fun.  It can also be stressful, it gets intense, but it’s worth it.  It’s the first time at a job where I’ve been accountable on this level.  Everyone I work with is accountable.  I mean, I’m twenty two, and I have a key, and I have my own entry code for the alarm system.  If I do a bad job, everybody feels it; Fracture is going to feel it.  I am directly responsible for the success of Fracture.  Every person who works here is.

Honestly, that can be overwhelming.  Sometime I miss not caring about what I do.  And then I remember that I have a key.  And an alarm code.

We all work a lot, I personally work more than most of my friends.  I also get to listen to Cabaret on the speakers at the little laser (how great is that sentence) as loud as I want.  Where else can I do that?

When we were going crazy to get orders out the door during hell week, we took a break to build a robo-mascot out of a broken water cooler.  I feel completely fortunate to work with people that I feel happy around.  People I can make a robot with when things get crazy.

Matt Santmyers, Business Development: Fracture has truly best the best and most challenging job I have held. I have learned more in 1 1/2 years with fracture than four years of college. Every day I am pushed to be better and to work harder constantly pushing to improve fracture. But at the end of the day, everyone here can still kick up their feet and relax and enjoy a night out with each other. It really is a great environment to work in.

What type of person does it take to thrive in Fracture’s work environment?

Barry Miller, Production: Three words: tenacious, hard-working, innovator. When working for a growing company, the words “normal work week” do not apply. Often times, orders need to be printed, processed, and fulfilled outside of the cushy 9-5 workers in America face. It can be taxing when equipment fails, supplies arrive late, or you encounter situations that leave your best laid plans in shambles. When those situations arise, you have to be able to dust off, find a solution, and carry on with the company mission. Finally, when you are helping get a company off the ground, you must be constantly looking for ways to improve. It can be tempting to just take things at face value and go with the flow. But without constantly looking for ways to do it better, you ultimately end up hurting the company, and with a young company, small injuries can lead to major problems.

Matthew Bivens, Marketing : We’re all young here, and although we have varying degrees of experience at what we do, this is our first startup experience.  So immediately you have to check your ego at the door and realize that you might be asked to do something you have never done before; you might be asked to master something you never thought yourself capable of; and you might be asked to do it yesterday!  The great thing is that, when you have a team of people that are cool, calm, and capable, no challenge is too large to tackle.  Intelligence is a must, but I think having the capacity to learn and the hunger to keep pushing is much more important.  It starts at the top with our co-founders, and their passion and enthusiasm has definitely trickled down and influenced the rest of us.  We’ve assembled a team of Jedi here, individuals who were hired not just for their intelligence and ability to do a job well, but because they possessed the intangible skills that would allow them to thrive in a high pressure, fast paced startup environment.  

You print pictures on glass, but running a business these days involves more than simply offering said product/service (marketing, follow-up, producing relevant content, etc.). Run me through day-to-day tasks that each Fracture team member works on, apart from handling orders. 

Sarah Russell, Customer Service: We are continuing to grow and develop, and as we do that we assimilate more into our “official roles.” But that hasn’t completely detracted from one of my favorite parts of the start-up life here at Fracture – we all wear many hats. We’re a small team, but that just means we all have to be experts at what we do and then a few other things too. We’re all collectively writing the manual on how to do this. Everything about Fracture is proprietary and crafted with our customers in mind.

There is nothing typical about the day-to-today, but tasks include stocking, cutting and packaging materials on the production end. There is also printing, cleaning and shipping, which is of course crucial. There is planning and research and development projects for the future, along with web development and programming to update the site. Behind the scenes, marketing initiatives focused on the customer experience and business to business partnerships are being built and focused on. We try to keep open communication with our customers, as well, with the office phone, email and social media to stay connected and help them with anything they need. All in a good day’s work. And then there’s Watson and Sierra, the office dogs. Their jobs basically consist of tackling a few chew toys in between corporate naps.

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This article was published on NextGen Journal on April 6, 2012.

To learn more about the Fracture team, read about the company on their website.

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