Ask YC: startup or traditional work experience?

#1

Post by Payton » Wed, Mar 19, 2008, 8:48 PM UTC

If a founder works on his company for a year, but can't seem to make it work, do future hiring managers see that time spent as a negative (couldn't find a way to make the company work, why would we hire them) or a positive (imagine all the lessons and skills they have developed in that year)?

Would that year in the startup put you ahead of the pack, or behind it, since you would essentially have one less year of traditional work experience.

Re: Ask YC: startup or traditional work experience?

#2

Post by brk » Wed, Mar 19, 2008, 9:11 PM UTC

There are a lot of variables involved here.

Hiring Managers == Humans == Emotional Logic

There will never be a 100% case, the closest you might get is that a hiring manager who is startup oriented could see that year as valuable productive time. A hiring manager who feels that only time spent in the ranks at BigCo is worthwhile might see that as a wasted year.

The reality though is that there are all kinds of companies, all kinds of hiring managers, and all kinds of opportunities out there.

Taking a shot at your own idea for year will open some doors and close others if you suddenly decide to go the "traditional" route. It is my personal opinion that working for a halfway decent organization for a year will open more net doors for you than working on your own in solitude for a year (assuming that after that year you are likely to seek different employment). So, if you don't have formal experience I would guide you down that path first, unless your idea is a really-super-killer-1-person-can-build it sort of thing.

Re: Ask YC: startup or traditional work experience?

#3

Post by edw519 » Wed, Mar 19, 2008, 9:27 PM UTC

April, 2007 to March, 2008. XYZ Company. Web Progammer.

One of 2 on development team that analyzed, designed, developed, tested, and deployed XYZ's primary web application. Grew application to 10,000 uniques per day in 8 months. Used framework, language, and testing facility. Wrote 450 original programs and maintained several thousand programs. Excellent references upon request.

Reason for leaving: Business failed.

So, what's the problem?

Re: Ask YC: startup or traditional work experience?

#4

Post by alex_c » Wed, Mar 19, 2008, 9:31 PM UTC

I would assume you'd get both kinds of reactions. I think a better question might be, which kind of manager/company would you prefer to work with in the future?

Re: Ask YC: startup or traditional work experience?

#5

Post by iamdave » Wed, Mar 19, 2008, 9:37 PM UTC

brk wrote: post #2

There are a lot of variables involved here. Hiring Managers == Humans == Emotional Logic There will never be a 100% case, the closest you might get is that a hiring manager who is startup oriented could see that year as valuable productive time. A hiring manager who feels that only time spent in the ranks at BigCo is worthwhile might see that as a wasted year. The reality though is that there are all kinds of compani…

Hiring Managers == Humans == Emotional Logic

Nothing will ever be more true than this when it comes to the problems in the work force.

Re: Ask YC: startup or traditional work experience?

#6

Post by rcoder » Wed, Mar 19, 2008, 9:37 PM UTC

I've seen a number of resumes which significantly over-stated the experience someone had gained while self-employed, but it's difficult to verify what the person accomplished without being able to contact clients and/or coworkers.

Just don't over-state what you did, and try to stay in touch with any collaborators or clients who could serve as references, and I see no reason why a startup can't be a great piece of experience to put on your resume.

Re: Ask YC: startup or traditional work experience?

#7

Post by rochers » Wed, Mar 19, 2008, 10:00 PM UTC

Why not do both? I work for a large internet company during the day. When I get home at home, the coding continues on my personal projects.

I think that's what Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft mean when they are looking for people with "self-started" projects.

Re: Ask YC: startup or traditional work experience?

#8

Post by pg » Wed, Mar 19, 2008, 10:28 PM UTC

I asked some managers this once, and they all said that startup experience was at least as good as big co experience. It's in an essay I wrote; I forget which.

Re: Ask YC: startup or traditional work experience?

#9

Post by myoung8 » Wed, Mar 19, 2008, 10:53 PM UTC

I have an entry about a startup I co-founded that failed on my resume. I also explicitly put in the description: "I learned a lot...from the business' failure."

I've been doing a lot of interviews lately, and most people are impressed that 1) I tried to start a company at all and 2) that I'm willing to admit that it failed

I would definitely keep it on there, as long as it was a good learning experience for you.

Re: Ask YC: startup or traditional work experience?

#10

Post by nostrademons » Wed, Mar 19, 2008, 10:55 PM UTC

At my last employer, there was one former founder that I ended up giving a "No hire" recommendation to my boss on. During the interview, it came out that his idea of founding a company was that he had this wildly ambitious, game-changing idea, and then he outsourced it to a bunch of Russian programmers to write, using his parents' money. And then he blamed them for not delivering when I asked him what he'd learned from the experience.

Let's think of the red flags there: 1) Doesn't have a clear conception of what he's capable of. 2) Unwilling to get hands dirty and code. 3) Because of this, didn't learn any technical skills that'll be useful in the job. 4) Won't take responsibility for his own failures.

In almost any other situation I can think of, doing your own startup would put you way ahead of the pack. I was actually pretty excited about the above candidate when I saw "founder" on his resume, 'till he blew it in the interview.