Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: losing faith in the startup where I'm employee #1

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 109 posts

Re: Ask HN: losing faith in the startup where I'm employee #1

#21

Post by erikb »

You probably overrate their connections, I think. People who are so unprofessional often aren't connected to the important people in the business. Think from the other people's point of view. If you are very productive and have an excelent track record, why should you care about some of the millions of people out there, who aren't?

So you are probably not losing a lot with going away, even if it's quite likely that they won't be happy with you breaking up with them.

That said, don't think too bad about them, because they are probably just inexperienced and don't know it better. And also don't think too high of yourself. If you are the only coder in an IT based start-up it doesn't matter who you are on paper. You have one of the most powerful positions. If you can't get it going it's also your fault and probably even more then it's their's, because you actually have the basic skill set to create software.

Another tip I want to give you on your way: Ask for a position as valuable as your leverage in the company. If you are the only coder in a software- or web-company you should definetely become a co-founder with a decent share of stock and decision making capabilities, maybe also CTO (CO often is more of a management job the moment you get more employees, so it's not required that an engineer does that. Someone with a management or business background might be better suited, even if the is a T).

Re: Ask HN: losing faith in the startup where I'm employee #1

#22

Post by forgottenpaswrd »

Three founders and one engineer that creates products?

Move on as fast as you can. Is not that you can't partner with some idea guy but three of them is too unbalanced. Doing anything takes an enormous amount of work, you can't change the idea every week(well, yes you can if you can reuse what you had already done, or if changing means less work or satisfying your customers much better, but usually you should not).

Being connected is nothing today, everybody is "connected" these days with facebook and twitter if you can't get users your product is not great. I believe that by connected you mean that they spend all time in parties "networking" while you code and they tell you how useful it is (it is not if you don't have users, they are not so well "connected").

I like (and love) a lot of people in the personal level, but some of them I will never do business with(being great at parties in some cases means that they are not serious enough for real work).

You don't need to burn bridges, but you need to be a grown up man, take decisions(decide means cutting options) and stand by it. You should be as clear as possible about the real reasons you leave and let them the opportunity to do something about it, if the reasons does not change then leave.

Re: Ask HN: losing faith in the startup where I'm employee #1

#23

Post by sparknlaunch12 »

After one year you have zero active users and only $100 revenue. You have a "well connected cto" but disconnected from reality? Surely this tells you everything you need to know?

You guys need a serious evaluation of the business and make a decision to fix things or shut it down. A year suggests you have missed the obvious questions about your customers.

If you are the only one with these thoughts may be time to move on.

Re: Ask HN: losing faith in the startup where I'm employee #1

#24

Post by forgottenpaswrd »

forgottenpaswrd wrote: post #22

Three founders and one engineer that creates products? Move on as fast as you can. Is not that you can't partner with some idea guy but three of them is too unbalanced. Doing anything takes an enormous amount of work, you can't change the idea every week(well, yes you can if you can reuse what you had already done, or if changing means less work or satisfying your customers much better, but usually you should not). B…

PD: If someone that tells you that he likes you, suddenly hates you while you tell them you take a different path than them, then they never liked you in the first place. They were just using social engineering to get what they wanted from you.

Re: Ask HN: losing faith in the startup where I'm employee #1

#25

Post by losethos »

Life is a journey. Highs and lows balance.

----------

20 Looking at his disciples, he said:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22 Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. 25 Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. 26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.

---------

Jesus is divine in the same way I am divine, but maybe He's special cause He's first.

"You will do this and more because I go before you..."

----------

God says... C:\Text\PILGRIM.TXT

maimed there, and could not, to their dying day, be their own men again.

{267} Then I saw in my dream, that a little off the road, over against the silver mine, stood Demas (gentlemanlike) to call to passengers to come and see; who said to Christian and his fellow, Ho! turn aside hither, and I will show you a thing.

CHR. What thing so deserving as to turn us out of the way to see it?

DEMAS. Here is a silver mine, and some digging in it for treasure. If you will come, with a little pains you

Re: Ask HN: losing faith in the startup where I'm employee #1

#26

Post by ronik »

It is important to be objective about your own career and not be emotional about your friendship with them. If they are good at heart, they will understand you eventually. If not, you are wasting your time anyway. You want to be loyal to folks, but this is a situation where you have to be loyal to yourself as well.

This is part of the learning curve we all go through and it seems you have learnt some important lessons already. I have a lot of senior friends that I didn't get along so well with professionally (because of our different styles of working) but on the personal level we still meet for lunch although we don't even work at the same company any longer.

It's ok... if I were you I'd go find another job and then just tell these guys that an excellent opportunity has come by. Perhaps give them a 4 week notice instead of the regular 2 weeks so they can find someone. I don't think you owe them much more than that.

Re: Ask HN: losing faith in the startup where I'm employee #1

#28

Post by wilfra »

If it were 2004 maybe this would require some thought. In 2012 it requires none at all. Start putting out some feelers for jobs. Take some interviews. When you've got an offer that looks more promising, give them an amount of notice that shows you care about them and cut your losses. Offer to help with the transition to contractors or whatever they want to do next.

You'll be able to save the relationships if you remain professional and polite and give them adequate notice.

It wont be 2012 forever. Demand for people with your skills is insane right now - don't waste your time. Get moving.

And next time you agree to be a technical co-founder (which is what you are here), be sure you team up with people who give you an equal say in the decision making process - not people who view you as an order taker.

Re: Ask HN: losing faith in the startup where I'm employee #1

#29

Post by vecter »

A lot of commenters here have made great points and I share their sentiments. Instead of repeating their good advice ad nauseam, I'd just like to add what I think is an important point: this is business, not personal.

It's pretty clear that you're carrying the whole team on your back. That's just a terrible situation to be in, and one I would never accept for myself. A team of cofounders that doesn't face reality is pretty much as bad as it gets in terms of startups. Not only are you the sole voice of reason, you're also the only person doing real work and adding actual value to the company. That may not be 100% true, but I bet it's true to a first or second order approximation.

The truth of the matter (and the truth of life) is, you need to look out for your best interests. There is no shame in doing this. It's the right thing to do. No one else, except maybe your parents, will ever care about your welfare and success. And frankly, that responsibility shouldn't fall on anybody else but you. Everyone else on this team is looking out for their own interests, why aren't you looking out for yours? Let me say out loud what you've been thinking: this is a train to nowhere. You owe it to yourself to find better opportunities. Your time on this planet is incredibly precious, don't waste it serving others for a reality you don't believe in.

It seems that you know deep in your heart what's best for you, but you're afraid to do it because you're worried about damaging these relationships. As other commenters have pointed out, there are ways to bow out gracefully. Are these cofounders really the type of people who would do malice to you for leaving for legitimate reasons? If so, that reflects much more poorly on them than it does on you.

You sound like a nice guy, which is awesome. I've been a nice guy my entire life, but I've learned the valuable lesson of how to say no (tactfully, of course, but always with confidence and strength). I hope you can come around to doing the same, because it will only benefit your life in all ways.

Post reply on HN