Completing a PhD is hard, but deciding what to dedicate your career to is even harder. PhD students typically have a couple of options: Pursue the Academic path (become a Lecturer or Professor), go into Industry (for example, become a Data Scientist at a technology company), work for the government (for example, as an advisor to political officials), pursue a non-profit path (work for a charitable institution or NGO), or other types of career paths (e.g., become a writer or found your own company). In this talk, I will be sharing my story of how I founded Prolific during my PhD in 2014 while being a 1st-year PhD student at the University of Sheffield, England. I will talk about any mistakes, challenges and lessons learned in my journey. I’ll share why I decided to start Prolific (vs. stay in Academia or join Industry), how I raised $1.4m in venture capital for Prolific in 2019 in Silicon Valley and for those who are exploring the startup path, I’ll share my thoughts on how students can start a startup themselves. Finally, I will share advice on how students can more generally prepare themselves for the non-academic world while they are nearing the end of their PhD, and what academic skills they can capitalize on as they make their post-PhD career decisions.

1. Career Opportunities After Your PhD
What I’ve Learned as Founder & CEO of Prolific
Ekaterina Damer, PhD
Invited talk at Saarland University, Germany
12 May 2022

2. Ekaterina Damer
CEO and Cofounder
PhD in Experimental
Psychology
Phelim Bradley
Technical cofounder
DPhil in Bioinformatics

3. Why did we start Prolific?
§ Sitting at Starbucks at the University of Sheffield:
“Where shall I get British participants from?”
§ “Is there really no international equivalent to MTurk?”
§ “How amazing would it be to build our own website…” 🤔

4. {Total Cost: < £50}
How we built our MVP in 2014
Science
expertise &
Passion

5. Only four months later: 10 researchers
from 9 universities have run 16 studies
I was
customer
#1! Eat your
own dog
food!

6. Y Combinator in 2019
6
v In 2018 finished PhDs, decided to go full-time with Prolific
v In 2019 applied to Y Combinator (www.ycombinator.com) & took part
in summer program
v Raised $1.4m from venture capital (VC) investors by December 2019

7. How Prolific Works
7
“Prolific is pretty baffling in an amazing way: 4,000 participants in less
than 24 hours. The stuff of dreams.” – Greg Simmonds, University of Oxford
A. Integrate with your favorite survey tool Data collection is fully
automated & studies finished in hours
B. Target only the participants you need We weed out bad actors
through data quality checks & machine learning
C. Start collecting data in real time You can follow up with
participants longitudinally or run complex experiments (check out gorilla.sc)

8. 8
Can combine
startup &
academic
work! J
Trust & Data Quality Are Key!

9. Mission & Vision
We’re on a mission to empower great research.
To accomplish this mission, we’re building the most trusted
platform for research on the Internet.
The goal is to enable scientists, businesses and
governments to make better decisions to the benefit of all.
9

10. 10
Doing a PhD & running a startup is hard…
But deciding what to dedicate
your career to is even harder!

11. PhDs have many options
11
§ Academia (Lecturer, Professor)
§ Industry (Analyst, Data Scientist, User Researcher, Market Researcher,
Consultant)
§ Government & Civil Service (Advisor, Researcher)
§ Non-profit path (work for charity or NGO)
§ Writer (Journalist, Author)
§ Found your own company J
Everybody is unique! No journey the same.
Focus on your strengths and passions 🚀

12. Transferable skills
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§ Intellectual & epistemic curiosity: Ability to learn fast*
§ Scientific rigor: Research & analytical skills
§ Collaboration & team skills: Make sure to collaborate!
§ Ability to communicate complex ideas & projects to
diverse audiences
Everybody is unique! No journey the same.
Focus on your strengths and passions 🚀
*Idea of compounding yourself: https://blog.samaltman.com/how-to-be-successful

13. What to Expect After Your PhD
13
Lots of competition for jobs, of course – choose your future work place,
work focus and team wisely. Trust your heart!
Can be disillusioning. Don’t let anyone dim your light! – You can still
enjoy what you’re doing, build a community of people around it and have the time of
your life!! 🥳
Check out these podcasts about science & academia:
• Everything Hertz
• More of a Comment than a Question
• Very Bad Wizards
• The Black Goat
Check out the
Reproducibilitea
Movement started
by Amy & Sophia!

14. Biggest Challenges So Far
14
Taking care of my mental & physical health – solved by making
conscious time for private life, reading books, getting support when needed
Connecting with the right people – have been asking for support &
guidance by reaching out to people; applied for programs (internship at Columbia
University in NYC, Visiting Researcher at Stanford University, Y Combinator
Startup Program)
Making hard decisions (for example, what products to build)
– Ask whether the decisions are high/low impact and reversible/irreversible.
Bounce ideas/thoughts off of other smart people, but ultimately trust your gut

15. Biggest Challenges So Far
15
Keeping morale high when external shocks happen (Covid-19,
war in Ukraine) – Stay positive, get active/activist to tackle the feeling of
helplessness, keep your own morale high, adopt a ‘promotion focus’. Be flexible and
try to adapt to circumstances as best as you can.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Diversify your bets –90%
of startups fail, so keep exploring alternative passions! For me, it’s science & science
communication, so I regularly think about what research projects to pursue next.
That way, if things implode or go awry, you will always have a potential plan B and C!

16. 16
Doing a PhD & starting a startup is hard…
What I would tell my
younger sibling

17. 1. Combine Passion & Opportunity
17
When deciding what career move to make,
ask yourself two questions:
1. What sparks curiosity & brings joy?
2. What problems really need solving?
Trust your instinct!
Recommended resources: Startup class with Sam Altman on YouTube; Essays
by Paul Graham (www.paulgraham.com); “The Mom Test” by Rob Fitzpatrick;
80,000 hours Podcast by Rob Wiblin

18. 2. Minimize Future Regret
18
What would you really
regret not trying when
you’re 80?
Just go and do it!
Be creative!
Recommended resources:
How Jeff Bezos started Amazon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwG_qR6XmDQ
Business Insider article: https://www.businessinsider.com/amazons-jeff-bezos-shares-advice-for-entreprenuers-2019-6

19. 3. Give More Than You Take!
19
Give generously, but keep your cup full.
“The currency of real networking is not greed, but generosity”
– Keith Ferrazzi
In other words: Don’t sacrifice yourself or your
health for the sake of career and success. Not
worth it in long run!
Givers outperform takers in the long-run…
Recommended resources: “Give and Take” by Adam Grant;
“The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership” by Dethmer and colleagues

20. 4. Build and Iterate First, Market Later (!)
20
Launch quickly, then iterate fast.
Many startups fall into the pitfall of investing lots of money
into marketing & sales from day 1.
That’s the wrong way around: Find-product market fit first.
Then double down on marketing/sales.
Recommended resources: “Reflecting on Y Combinator: 3 Lessons About Growth and Culture”
https://www.prolific.co/blog/reflecting-on-ycombinator-3-lessons

21. 5. Be Vulnerable with People you Trust
21
Don’t let problems eat you up:
Talk to people when you struggle (friends,
family, colleagues you trust)
Vulnerability is the birthplace of joy,
creativity and connection.
Recommended resources:
Brene Brown’s TED talk & books “Daring Greatly” and “Rising Strong”
https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_the_power_of_vulnerability

22. 6. Be Honest and Authentic
22
It will resonate with people who are honest and authentic as well, so
you will naturally attract great people & build a great community
around you.
Caveat: Being unfiltered can lead to some conflict, or alienate
people, or make you controversial.
That said… nobody is perfect! It is ok to make mistakes. Simply learn
from the & move forward
IMHO: Better honest and authentic than deceitful J

23. What Not To Do… 🙅
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§ Don’t force an idea or project or career path if it
doesn’t feel right
§ Don’t stay in toxic environments or with people who
pull you down... You can help fix problems or: just exit!
§ Don’t just copycat: Get your creative juices flowing!
Everyone has potential and a spark in them. 🔥

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Every single one of you is highly
educated & full of potential.
The world is your oyster!
Reach out to me anytime!
Ekaterina (Katia) Damer
Founder, President & CEO of Prolific
@ekadamer | ek.damer@gmail.com