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My experience as the first employee of a Y Combinator startup

nathanmarz.com

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Re: My experience as the first employee of a Y Combinator startup

#111

Post by rdl »

_pius wrote: post #105
rdl wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Racial and ethnic diversity really seem like non issues...they are pretty superficial differences within a work environment. Age, children, and sex are a little more relevant, and even those are pretty minor and only loosely correlated with traits relevant in a work environment. Bringing a windows guy into a unix shop, or hiring a sales guy too early at a product development stage startup, or hiring a stupid or lazy…

Racial and ethnic diversity really seem like non issues...they are pretty superficial differences within a work environment. Superficial diversity is really overvalued. And very undervalued by people in the majority ...

For the past 12 years I have often been either the only American in a group, or the only white guy, or the only person who went to a top-tier tech school. I've been in groups that have been totally multicultural, or groups where one other ethnicity or race predominated. (admittedly, everything has been at most 30% female).

I really haven't observed ethnicity or race as a primary factor in team dynamics. Even first language, assuming people have a minimal level of fluency, hasn't been a major factor; even with my minimal French, I've ended up hanging out with French video gamers and sci fi fans (all 3 of them at a big base; they spoke maybe 100 words of English) vs. a bunch of other Americans.

Volitional things like the kind of music you like, the job you do, your hobbies, etc. are really a much bigger factor, at least in my limited experience, than race or ethnicity.

Re: My experience as the first employee of a Y Combinator startup

#112

Post by roel_v »

aberman wrote: post #99
jrockway wrote: post #78

My experience as being employee 8 million at a Large Corporation is nearly identical. I can choose my own tools, work from home when I want to, take breaks, etc. We've already taken care of the cash flow thing, so it ends up being much more relaxing than working for a small company. We aren't going to go out of business if our software isn't released tomorrow, so we have lots of time to write quality solutions. We ca…

What do your stock options look like? If BigCo doubles revenue this year (probably impossible if it really is a big company) how will it affect your life? If BigCo gets acquired next year will you be popping champaign or worried about your job?

I'm interested in hearing about experiences on people who are not founders and made money in an IPO/buyout. How much can that realistically be? You're diluted down to 0. something percent by the time the exit happens. Compared to the opportunity cost of just getting paid each month for several years, do employees in a startup come out ahead, financially?

Re: My experience as the first employee of a Y Combinator startup

#113

Post by roel_v »

equark wrote: post #106
rdl wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Name one company in the USA which didn't take outside funding and exited for more than 30mm usd?

Sas. Still private no funding, founder is worth 8 billion.

Yeah, and how much of those do the employees get? Right.

Re: My experience as the first employee of a Y Combinator startup

#114

Post by Psyonic »

jashmenn wrote: post #23
Psyonic wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you provide more info on burn-out? What it's like at its worst?

exhibit a: http://viewsourcecode.org/why/

Good point. If I may wager a guess on why _why left, it's because of the worship-like behavior that people are still directing at him.

Re: My experience as the first employee of a Y Combinator startup

#115

Post by nl »

roel_v wrote: post #113
equark wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sas. Still private no funding, founder is worth 8 billion.

Yeah, and how much of those do the employees get? Right.

SAS has a profit sharing programming. That's often a better deal for employees.

In SAS's case they pay up to $70,000 as a bonus, in Canada anyway: http://www.eluta.ca/top-employer-sas-canada. Averages seem to range from $9000 to $32,000 (http://www.glassdoor.com/Bonuses/SAS-Institute-Bonuses-E3807...)

Re: My experience as the first employee of a Y Combinator startup

#116

Post by maeon3 »

SMrF wrote: post #26
jacquesm wrote: post #2

If it takes you weeks to recover from a burn-out you haven't burned out - yet. Burn out is a serious issue and some people never fully recover from it. If you're working hard and you need a break after a few months of hard labour that's normal, but it's not the same as being burned out. Otherwise a great piece and nice to get some insight in to what goes on behind the scenes of backtype.

Years ago I suffered what I would now call "burn out" although at the time I didn't know what was happening. I found this essay to be an accurate description of my experience, but I think a doctor would be a better source of information on this topic: http://www.stressdoc.com/four_stages_burnbout.htm At the worst point I was experiencing anxiety, paranoia and depression. My only strategy for coping with stress and di…

http://sentientmachine.blogspot.com/2010/07/burnout-how-to-r...

Re: My experience as the first employee of a Y Combinator startup

#117

Post by SMrF »

maeon3 wrote: post #116
SMrF wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Years ago I suffered what I would now call "burn out" although at the time I didn't know what was happening. I found this essay to be an accurate description of my experience, but I think a doctor would be a better source of information on this topic: http://www.stressdoc.com/four_stages_burnbout.htm At the worst point I was experiencing anxiety, paranoia and depression. My only strategy for coping with stress and di…

http://sentientmachine.blogspot.com/2010/07/burnout-how-to-r...

You must have experienced this yourself first hand. This is a great description of the problem and the solution.
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