If you’re fortunate enough be the recipient of multiple startup opportunities, congrats! Selecting the right company is one of the most important decisions in your career you can make, especially at the beginning of your career. For your professional and personal growth, a successful firm with strong competitive moats as well as effective management will be the best. The key question is: How do you evaluate each company and determine which one is best suited to your requirements?

In the past, having gone through a similar exercise I’ve put together my thoughts about the important things to think about when joining a startup into five tips. These aspects will make you happier than if all your concentration was on the business with the best snacks.

1. Think of yourself as an investor not as an employee.

Choosing Company Setup in Dubai is basically taking a concentrated investment in one company. In the Bay Area, the equity portion of the package of compensation could exceed 50%. Equity is typically vested over many years so being a part of a startup could be seen as borrowing against your future to invest. However, not all applicants choose jobs that require the same thinking and rigor as investors.

What does thinking like an investor mean when it comes to choosing a job offer? It means placing the most crucial elements that will determine the success of your company like opportunities to grow the business, and not focusing on the more irrelevant factors like workplace decor or perks for employees. While these are all important for their own sake they are also likely to develop professionally and develop better relationships at a successful growing business.

It is also crucial to know the business model of the company and think about what it would take for the company to increase its size exponentially or instead, be a failure. Knowing the probability of either will help you fully understand the upside and risk.

2. Examine the competitive advantages.

What are the competitive strengths of this firm Are the competitive strengths likely to increase or diminish in the near future? For instance, Affirm, a consumer loans company is a company with moats that are getting stronger every day. The more successful product Affirm develops, the more customers it attracts to join.

One heuristic I like to employ when trying to comprehend the competitive advantages of a business is to determine the costs of replicating its business. What is the cost for a competitor to replicate the business, and then grow it to its current size to make it profitable? It would be nearly impossible to duplicate Facebook’s features, or gain its customers, considering Facebook’s incredible network effect.

3. Find out about the vision and performance of leaders.

Leadership can make a difference in the way your company’s competitive advantage will grow or decrease in the near future. It is essential to ensure that the business’s leadership is focused on the needs of its customers and the ways they can enhance the experience they have. You can look at their previous records to gauge the level of quality of a company’s leadership team. Did the founder have successful companies previously? What has helped them reach their objectives? These questions can be answered by speaking with employees in the present and conducting background research.

4. Do your homework on the company’s past valuation history.

Many startups suffer not from bad execution, but due to unrealistic expectations. Startups with a value that is rising faster than their revenue will be more likely to fail in the coming years. A recession can have a devastating impact on your stock price and morale. You can monitor the performance of your company in the past and compare them to its valuation trend to determine its value.

You can also study the investors of a company. How are they known for their track record? What percentage of investors remained with the company after more than one funding round? The most reputable venture capital companies have likely conducted a good amount of due diligence, so you can piggyback on their findings.

5. Great people to be around.

The company of great people will accelerate your career advancement. It works in many ways. In the first place, it can enhance your learning potential through being with smart, experienced peers. This can motivate you and cause your work to become inspired by their success. Mentors are also available who will help you make significant contributions and boost your career.

Interviews are a fantastic method to determine this. Interviewers who are enthusiastic about the company or their work are a great sign. They are motivated to do excellent work. It’s difficult to fake passion when interviewers tell you they love their companies.

These five tips have served me well in my job search, as I’m now employed at Affirm. Of course, everyone’s evaluation criteria will vary, but I hope you’ve found some value in these tips. Please visit our careers page if you would like to learn more about our job opportunities.