Should I talk about my startup that I built Part Time?

Question

Hi,

so I am in the runs for Product Owner position at McKinsey. I cleared my final interview and they have scheduled a fit interview. It is with the Head of the Product. As per the recruiter, he will be asking me about personal experience and all.

I have worked at leading startups in my region and at the same time I built my own EdTech startup for which I was the tech co-founder and built two products (an app and a web based product) with two part time Engineers.

Should I disclose this information in my interview? How will McKinsey take me building my own startup while also working on a job? Just to be clear my founders and bosses fully supported me.

P.S. my startup has been halted now since my co-founder became terminally ill.

Answer 1

Hi there,

in short - it can be great experience to share, but you should position it in a way that McK does not smell “conflict”.

If it's on halt now and you frame it as a recent, but past experience, it should be a safe enough to play this. If the company senses, however, that your start up involvement conflicts with the high demands of working in a strat consulting firm, then this can have negative implications, in my experience.

Given the stage you are in the process, wondering what's the upside of discussing this topic though? As it seems that from an experience and technical standpoint, you already convinced them - so what's the benefit of bringing up the topic? Suggest you don't take unnecessary risks.

Hope this helps.

Regards, Andi

Answer 2

Yes yes and yes! What a fantastic experience!

Agree with Andi here that you need to make sure to make clear that this is done now.

But I would absolutely bring out this experience as it shows a lot of desireable traits for the role.

Here's some more reading for the fit interview: https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/tell-me-about-yourself-interview-question

Answer 3

Hi there!

Yes, you should be sharing this.

This signals to them a lot of good things so you should think of it as a strength.

I've had colleagues before in McK who had startups before joining and it wasn't a problem during the recruitment process. After they got the offer they just had to discuss how to legally move themselves out of that business entity, but these are just details that you can figure out afterwards.

Best of luck with the interview!
Cristian

Answer 4

Hi there,

Q: Should I disclose this information in my interview? How will McKinsey take me building my own startup while also working on a job?

First of all, I am very sorry to hear about the issue of your cofounder, I hope a recovery is still possible.

Yes, it is fine to disclose your entrepreneurial experience if there was no conflict with your full-time job. I would recommend to prepare as well an answer for why you would prefer McKinsey now rather than the startup as they might ask that question.

Best,

Francesco

Answer 5

Hello,

You should absolutely bring this up in the interview, this sounds like great experience! Bear in mind what other coaches have said re: making it clear why you want to move on to McK and that this will not present a conflict.