Don't join a friend's business as an employee, the bad parts of their personality will be inescapable and most people aren't good at being bosses or handling authority so you're going to find your friend starts to get on your nerves a lot. It will definitely damage the relationship unless your friend is an A+ human being.
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?
#42I joined a startup founded by a friend (not a very close friend, but still) and worked there for 2 years.
Overall it was a very positive experience and I think it strengthened the friendship. I felt like I was able to be way more honest throughout my tenure about what I wanted and how I thought things were going.
I’ll also say I did it carefully. I waited until the Series A was raised and joined as the ~50th employee so I was able to get compensation I was happy with and I didn’t come in needing to carry the company.
I will say that I would not have done this with a closer friend. Not worth the risk to the friendship.
Re: Ask HN: Those who've joined a friend's startup as an employee, how did that go?
#43It ruined the friendship.
I was uninformed on how stock grants worked and trusted their advice. They said "I'll take care of you."
They made millions from the venture. I was able to buy a motorcycle.
Re: Ask HN: Those who've joined a friend's startup as an employee, how did that go?
#44First time was a disaster. Joined at founding. Technology didn't work as planned, company was mismanaged, investors' money squandered. We're not really friends anymore. Learned a ton though and still got paid a reasonable salary? The company should've been wound down years ago but it's still lingering on feeble life support. I own some worthless shares.
Second time, 8 years in and still going strong. Joined at series A. Solid growth trajectory. I own some shares that might really be worth something, one of these days.
Re: Ask HN: Those who've joined a friend's startup as an employee, how did that go?
#45Didn’t end up going to work for the friend, but the situation still strained the friendship. An engineer I worked with for several years (and became friends with outside of work) started his own company, a couple of years later he recruited me to join as his business was taking off. He’d also brought in a business guy who seemed to put in lots of processes including a mandatory take-home coding assignment as part of…
That is such a bizarre story.
Re: Ask HN: Those who've joined a friend's startup as an employee, how did that go?
#46Re: Ask HN: Those who've joined a friend's startup as an employee, how did that go?
#47I have a list of friends who I would drop anything to follow at a startup. I also have a list of friends who I would tell to just put their money in an index fund. I can’t think of any friends who would be good founders, but I wouldn’t work under because they’re friends.
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Re: Ask HN: Those who've joined a friend's startup as an employee, how did that go?
#48From what I've seen, think of it as greatly amplifying the variance of the friendship. I've seen it break friendships in rare cases, and in the median case I've seen it build friendships to the point where people are often as close family members. It is a deep bonding experience in the purest sense, with all of the good and bad that that entails.
A significant positive: You have a lot of information about your friend's integrity and values.
A maybe-negative: You will probably feel somewhat less comfortable grabbing a beer and talking about whatever is on your mind, at least for the first few years.
Re: Ask HN: Those who've joined a friend's startup as an employee, how did that go?
#49It's basically the question of how an equal friendship is affected by an unequal business relationship.
In my case, the commercial values and industry culture eventually eclipsed the social friendship and made it untenable, but that process took about a decade to eventuate.
The imbalance was a big part of it. Not directly! The friend treated me well, but the other employees not so much. The resulting long term issues drove a wedge, and my friend had no choice but to side with his life's career.
Re: Ask HN: Those who've joined a friend's startup as an employee, how did that go?
#50I just give my friends some shares[1] either directly or into an SPV and move on
I’m usually able to do everything so I don’t need to make nominal roles, or their actual help, sometimes they are faces on a site or running a support channel just to add a human element and look like traction
[1] I usually don’t dilute any ownership of the company, I dole out shares of a revenue stream, or the product which can be convertible to cash. very clean, very lucrative. not on me if that revenue stream dries up or they dont sell the product, they were cut in.