Webster's defines the word oxymoron as follows: “a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction.”

Close enough. I love working on in-house positions with startups, especially first general counsel hires. And recent work has emphasized a request we often hear from clients in fast growth mode: “Get us candidates who are entrepreneurial.”

Yet, clients want their first general counsel to bring order to the scene, implement best practices for getting legal work done, lend added confidence for the board and investor community, and make sure regulatory compliance is not ignored. Some of that stuff requires process, and leaders at startups often bristle at process. Truth be told, founders and CEOs of startups can be downright anti-lawyer.

Wanting an “entrepreneurial general counsel” does not really mean wanting an entrepreneur. It means wanting someone who fully understands how to successfully work for an entrepreneur.  Here are some tips for what that looks like:

• Text over email, and anything longer than a Twitter message won't get read.
• Leave your ego at the door. If you are a control freak, you are a bad fit.
• Be whip smart. Entrepreneurs respect intelligence. The best ones even prefer to surround themselves with “smarter than me.”
• Accept risk. If you are someone who needs to dot every “i,” you are a bad fit.
• Business speak trumps legal speak. Leave words like “moot” at home.
• Exude confidence (not the same word as ego). Entrepreneurs crave it in their leadership team members.

Working for startups has left some in-house lawyers bruised and battered.

For others, it is the best experience of their professional lives. Some even move from startup to startup to startup. As with many of my columns, my main piece of advice is be true to who you are. You know if you are someone who prefers formal job descriptions and the comfort of an established company. Nothing wrong with that! If you enjoy a little chaos and maybe some occasional crazy … then you may be an oxymoron who is an entrepreneurial general counsel.

Mike Evers recruits attorneys for corporate legal departments throughout the United States. Visit www.everslegal.com. His firm also offers experienced in-house counsel to companies on an adjunct basis.