> I had to wear too many hats
As you've got experience of many hats were there any hats in particular that you did enjoy? You're at a great junction for specialisation right now.
Ask HN: My company has been acquired and I'm kicked out. What should I do now?
141–150 of 198 posts
Re: Ask HN: My company has been acquired and I'm kicked out. What should I do now?
#142There is a lot of good advice here on perspective and going ahead one step at a time.
The only thing I would like to add to it is that you will feel better in due course even if you dont do anything much. Time will fix burnout by itself, and your pessimism will lift.
Try not being anxious about not wanting to do anything. Knowing that it will fix itself should help - maybe make this time enjoyable even. Let the world go by and have faith that your time will come.
Re: Ask HN: My company has been acquired and I'm kicked out. What should I do now?
#143Resume your hustle of course. Either start your next company or find a job at a place you like. This is a setback in a life that's not in full swing yet. Go get it!
Re: Ask HN: My company has been acquired and I'm kicked out. What should I do now?
#144I was in a similar situation and it was a godsend.
Go explore the world, hike, find love. Afterwards you won't believe what kind of energy you will have. It will be like the start of career 'i can do anything' level!
Re: Ask HN: My company has been acquired and I'm kicked out. What should I do now?
#145Begin by taking a vacation - you deserve it, and it'll clear your head.
When I've sold my first startup I specifically wanted to get out on day 1 so I can go ahead and start another. This isn't for everyone - you have to decide how much entrepreneurial itch you have, and how much cash you have to back you up (you can move somewhere cheaper). The good news is that it will be easier to raise money next time round, so if you start anything, it sounds like you want to raise asap to be able to pay yourself a salary. If you feel like the risk is too great for you - get a job as a PM in a growing startup.
Re: Ask HN: My company has been acquired and I'm kicked out. What should I do now?
#146Go contracting.
I can tell you from personal experience of the same situation that going "code monkey" is so freaking chill after having to worry about everything in a startup.
In the interview process stress your understanding of the whole life cycle as we always love to hire people that can see the big picture, that'll easily make up for any rust on your skills.
If you're not ready to jump back into work just yet then just pursue an interest for a while. If you have a three month old daughter then go baby groups but social interaction is really what we're looking for here as well as some associated interest.
Re: Ask HN: My company has been acquired and I'm kicked out. What should I do now?
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
Please stop, if you don't want to try, it doesn't mean it is not possible... the truth is that the market efficient hypothesis is not valid and there are plenty examples of people beating the market consistently
Maybe I need to make some background assumptions more explicit. Have you heard of reference class forecasting [1]? The "outside view" of historical results of similar activity is significantly more effective in predicting the results of your actions compared to using the "inside view" of analyzing the details of your plan. Everyone who chooses to buy and sell individual stocks does so because they think it's better t…
I bet the Japanese felt the same way 20 years ago when Japan was the second largest economy in the world... let me give you a great quote from a so so book:
"When you went to medical school did you ever want to graduate with a C average?” The doctor said, “No.” Vandergrift replied, “Do you want to send your kids to a C school?” He said, “No.” Vandergrift countered, “Then why are you doing that with your money? The S&P is an average. It’s an average of the 500 largest companies in the United States. It’s an average. It’s a C index. Why would you want to invest to get average returns?”
Re: Ask HN: My company has been acquired and I'm kicked out. What should I do now?
#148To get over a similar experience, I moved from a city in an expensive country to a village in a cheap country. The money I got would last me many more years than it would have otherwise, so I had time to relax, get over things and order my thoughts. Worked well for me.
Out of interest, which country did you move to? Sounds like a really great idea.
Re: Ask HN: My company has been acquired and I'm kicked out. What should I do now?
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
> HR people love applications with an "entrepreneurial spirit" This has been the exact opposite of my experience. I think HR is more likely to say "reject immediately, not an exact fit for the job we are looking for and anyway he or she will probably leave to start another startup soon"
Interesting. Maybe it would have been more accurate to say my former managers loved an entrepreneurial spirit. Don't have as much experience with HR directly.
HR typically like people who have been doing the exact same job for the past 5 years.
In the corporate world, its hard to change positions because you are type cast.
Re: Ask HN: My company has been acquired and I'm kicked out. What should I do now?
#150It's happened to me. It sucks.
There's tons of good advice here. Most of it's about stuff you should DO. Yeah, DO some of that stuff.
Don't forget to BE for a while.
What does BEing look like? I don't know you so I can't guess what it looks like for you. For me it looked like hanging out at a good public library and a nearby coffee shop reading all kinds of pointless stuff.
Then it looked like working as a cook's helper at a local feeding program for people down on their luck.
Did I mention? it sucks to lose your company. It's no fun to acknowledge how bad it sucks and play the shoulda woulda coulda game with yourself. But it's OK to do those things.