Particularly deadly are alleged heroes. So-called JavaScript gods who push nothing but bad code into bad infrastructure. People who shoot against everything and everyone, but always celebrate themselves as heroes for night actions.
To succeed leads a heterogeneous team that pursues the same goals.
Mood killers and finger pointers belong in no startup.
Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2019?
11–20 of 84 posts
Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2019?
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why did you work there for 3 years? Was there any particular reason why you accepted bad terms?
A bunch of possible reasons: - A lot of people don't know what they are actually worth and undervalue themselves - or they do not understand the caveats of things like dilution and classes of stock - or they were offered stock in units of shares without knowing the valuation - or they accept a job and relocate to the Bay Area from a reasonably-affordable place and mistakenly think that a $100k/year salary is hitting…
Damn, 1-3 & 5 apply to me. I need to leave. Now.
Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2019?
#13Cons:
- Startups are disorganized
- Most startups fail because they make a stupid product no one wants and the team is awful
- Startups pay below what a large company can afford and often pay below market rate
- Startups will try to low ball you on equity. Don't start with me about negotiating. If they refuse to negotiate, you have your choice of no meaningful equity or working somewhere else. This is often the case.
- Insane sociopath founders who also are terrible at their jobs
- Startups are full of startup bros who are fucking insane sociopath assholes in general. Why the fuck would you want to play ping pong during normal business hours, you stupid fucking asshole? We're trying to build a business here.
- Startups idolize hustle porn
- Startups are increasingly choosing to not even exit which defeats the entire fucking purpose of working there
Pros
- Things are so disorganized that you if you accidentally fuck up, no one might even notice
- If you win the lottery, you'll almost make up for the money you could have made working at Google or some other big company
Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2019?
#14Not much of a change. It's still suboptimal from a financial point of view to join an early stage startup: yes, you will be screwed out of the fruits of your labor even on the off chance that your company hits a jackpot. There are people much more sophisticated than you or I whose entire job is to figure out how to steal equity from you. To the extent there's been a change, the economics of startups and tech are more…
The current Uber/Airbnb is, without question, ByteDance.
Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2019?
#15Pro: You will have larger responsibility.
Con: The same.
Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2019?
#16It depends what your alternatives are.
This thread will fill up with comments saying start-ups won't pay as well as Google et al, but that's only relavent if you can get hired by Google (and you want to be). Comments that state "start-up wages are less than the best paying tech jobs" aren't very useful.
If you can't get a job at Google then you need to compare a start-up role with a job you can get. If that's a junior position in a small city tech co then it's probable the start-up salary will actually be similar or possibly even higher if it's done a round or two. And, if that's the case, the start-up is going to be far more interesting, fast moving, and fun. Just don't join a start-up thinking it'll make you rich because it (probably) won't.
Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2019?
#17Ironically, it’s become even less likely you’ll find people at startups who tie their self-esteem to money and more likely at big cos.
Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2019?
#18There are 3 potential reasons to join a startup:
1. You're the founder
2. You have no other choice
3. You think it'll be fun
Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2019?
#19Cons: - Startups are disorganized - Most startups fail because they make a stupid product no one wants and the team is awful - Startups pay below what a large company can afford and often pay below market rate - Startups will try to low ball you on equity. Don't start with me about negotiating. If they refuse to negotiate, you have your choice of no meaningful equity or working somewhere else. This is often the case.…
What do you have against ping pong?
Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2019?
#20Cons: - Startups are disorganized - Most startups fail because they make a stupid product no one wants and the team is awful - Startups pay below what a large company can afford and often pay below market rate - Startups will try to low ball you on equity. Don't start with me about negotiating. If they refuse to negotiate, you have your choice of no meaningful equity or working somewhere else. This is often the case.…
> Things are so disorganized that you if you accidentally fuck up, no one might even notice
I accidentally fucked up at a startup. My reaction was to provide infrastructure such that that particular class of fuckup was much less likely to happen again. Guess what happened ... I got thrown under a bus some months later over the fuckup anyway. Learned a lot. Was worth it. Would not do it (i.e. work for that type of organisation) again.