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Ask HN: Those who've joined a friend's startup as an employee, how did that go?

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Re: Ask HN: Those who've joined a friend's startup as an employee, how did that go?

#271

Post by machomaster »

robertlagrant wrote: post #268
machomaster wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are describing the HR person's ego trip. That person should be fired, for being unprofessional and for inability to adapt to a trivial non-standard situation ("normally we test the applicant's technical competency with a take-home test; now it already has been established; so I need to stop wasting everybody's time and spend my time doing something actually useful".) Obviously, HR could still be useful in establi…

I think the fundamental difference is just that you think that the technical competency has been established, and the hiring manager did not. Given the candidate did the exercise, but did it badly, I think the hiring manager was right. None of the other stuff you're saying is relevant. No point doing armchair psychoanalysis.

The only thing the candidate did wrong was to even start the assignment. Either communicate that it is a waste of time and refuse to do it, or decide to do it and do it properly. No point in half-assing anything in life.

Re: Ask HN: Those who've joined a friend's startup as an employee, how did that go?

#272

Post by mekate »

Not as an employee, but I co-founded a startup with a friend. We were friends since college and he had come up with a good idea, and insisted I should help him build the product. He was a non-tech guy so I built the whole thing and we made some good money.

Fast forwarding 2 years, the numbers started going down and he started looking for alternative ways to increase our income and came up with crazy projects that we failed to deliver. Ideas like building a video generation engine for product marketing. We only had two junior devs at that time...

At the end, he tried screwing me over legally. Fortunately, I had a good lawyer and left the company at the right time with my pockets full.

Re: Ask HN: Those who've joined a friend's startup as an employee, how did that go?

#274

Post by VirusNewbie »

wifipunk wrote: post #242
robertlagrant wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How was it established?

They mean it was established by the CEO's experience with him as an engineer. To the company it was never, and as high a recommendation as the CEO would be; most people would agree they did the right thing. Unless you're hired before a hiring manager or whomever is doing the hiring you should follow the process. If you treat it like a joke because you feel entitled by your connections then be willing to accept the ou…

If I was a hiring manager who set up a hiring process to evaluate candidates, and someone did poorly on it but the CEO came and said "no no, hire this person anyway, I know they failed but it's fine" I would quit.

Re: Ask HN: Those who've joined a friend's startup as an employee, how did that go?

#275

Post by machomaster »

VirusNewbie wrote: post #274
wifipunk wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They mean it was established by the CEO's experience with him as an engineer. To the company it was never, and as high a recommendation as the CEO would be; most people would agree they did the right thing. Unless you're hired before a hiring manager or whomever is doing the hiring you should follow the process. If you treat it like a joke because you feel entitled by your connections then be willing to accept the ou…

If I was a hiring manager who set up a hiring process to evaluate candidates, and someone did poorly on it but the CEO came and said "no no, hire this person anyway, I know they failed but it's fine" I would quit.

If I were a CEO trying to build a successful company and found a willing competent worker, whose hiring would fail because of the hiring manager's ego and inability to adapt and do what's right, I would consider it a purposeful sabotage and would fire the drag-downer.

Re: Ask HN: Those who've joined a friend's startup as an employee, how did that go?

#276

Post by VirusNewbie »

machomaster wrote: post #275
VirusNewbie wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I was a hiring manager who set up a hiring process to evaluate candidates, and someone did poorly on it but the CEO came and said "no no, hire this person anyway, I know they failed but it's fine" I would quit.

If I were a CEO trying to build a successful company and found a willing competent worker, whose hiring would fail because of the hiring manager's ego and inability to adapt and do what's right, I would consider it a purposeful sabotage and would fire the drag-downer.

Sure, but I think it's likely you haven't worked on high performing teams if you think this.

Re: Ask HN: Those who've joined a friend's startup as an employee, how did that go?

#277

Post by machomaster »

VirusNewbie wrote: post #276
machomaster wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I were a CEO trying to build a successful company and found a willing competent worker, whose hiring would fail because of the hiring manager's ego and inability to adapt and do what's right, I would consider it a purposeful sabotage and would fire the drag-downer.

Sure, but I think it's likely you haven't worked on high performing teams if you think this.

Not an argument.

Re: Ask HN: Those who've joined a friend's startup as an employee, how did that go?

#278

Post by catlifeonmars »

InitialLastName wrote: post #209
catlifeonmars wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow. $20k seems like a paltry sum to end a friendship over.

That's a very privileged perspective to have... I know plenty of people for whom a sudden $20k shortfall would be existential.

I probably could have phrased it better, but my comment was taken out of context. What I mean is $20k is a paltry sum for a tech startup to screw someone over for. I don’t think it’s a small sum for most individual wage earners (especially with young children).

Re: Ask HN: Those who've joined a friend's startup as an employee, how did that go?

#279

Post by swiftcoder »

bruce511 wrote: post #270
swiftcoder wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they are actually your friend, why are you not looking out for their best interests? Whenever this topic comes up I always feel like I'm in some weird Silicon Valley Twilight Zone where "friendship" is some sort of code for "people I have access to exploit when necessary"...

In 99% of cases it's safe to say it's not in their best interest to join your startup :) Of course, friend or not, all you have to be, to not be exploitive is to agree on a salary, and pay it.

The falls well below the bar for friendship in my book. Are you comfortable letting your friend agree to a salary significantly below their worth? Are you comfortable excluding your friends from potential upsides of your shared endeavours? That's at best a coworker, not a friend.

Re: Ask HN: Those who've joined a friend's startup as an employee, how did that go?

#280

Post by humbleferret »

mooreds wrote: post #263
stavros wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just so I don't just mention the negative, I tried to start a company with another friend two more times, it didn't go well each time because of various understandable reasons on both sides. I've now joined another startup this friend has founded, which is doing very well (we're at 200 people now) and it's one of the best jobs I've had. It's definitely not all negative, but it's like any relationship. If you don't ch…

Doing a small project together before you commit is a good idea for all cofounders, in my opinion. If it doesn't work when almost nothing is at stake, it won't work when there's more at stake.

This opinion is significantly undervalued.

It appears that individuals often invest far more diligence and scrutiny in choosing cars, electronics, partners, and properties than they do in selecting a co-founder.

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