Work experience of any kind is useful for entrepreneurs, and is frankly the missing piece for many.
As far as the type of experience that would be most helpful, that depends on the goal of the entrepreneur.
In general, going to work in a large company (i.e., one that has become successful enough to grow to the point where it has a proper organizational structure, standards and policies) is helpful so that you can learn what a company is.
Instead, for entrepreneurs that go this path, all often the message that is taken away is “bureaucracy sucks! I don’t want to be a number in a nameless corporate machine! I’m going to disrupt and be different!”
And that is a vision – a goal to work towards. Something they can keep clear in their mind as they are creating their company and forging their path.
They will let the good parts sink into their subconscious as they work toward building something that doesn’t become the thing they are rebelling against.
At some point, if they’re really really good at it, their company will be interesting enough for one of the nameless, faceless bureaucracies to acquire.
And then they’ll have a minor crisis of faith.
But, it all begins with the thing that sparks their vision.
So yes, work experience is extremely important for entrepreneurs.
Originally Posted: https://www.quora.com/Is-having-work-experience-at-a-large-company-generally-helpful-for-entrepreneurs
Originally Posted On: 2016-02-18