Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2018? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2018?

#171

Post by kwindla » Mon, Jun 11, 2018, 8:17 PM UTC

Beefin wrote: post #118

Have founded a startup, worked at a startup and worked at several fortune 500s and I can say the most interesting thing on my resume for the fortune 500 interviewers is by far the startup experience. Showing that I can pull my weight, have a sense of leadership, drive, ambition, etc are traits that every employer wants to see but not many employees get to flex.

I've heard this from multiple Fortune 500 hiring managers, too. And of course it's doubly true for founders and hiring managers at startup and growth-stage tech companies! Just about every experienced person I know in startup-land thinks that resumés that show only big company experience are a negative hiring filter.

Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2018?

#172

Post by roguecoder » Mon, Jun 11, 2018, 8:18 PM UTC

mathattack wrote: post #110

Pros: - More autonomy - Less administrative overhead - More executive interaction - Higher percentage of superstar colleagues - Work is more fun - More breadth of opportunity and interaction Cons that YC can help with: - Less formal training - Less formal mentoring - When things go South, the cuts are worse and you have less notice (The above can be mitigated by offering training and mentoring for the entire communit…

One idea to reduce volatility in financial outcomes: offer equity in the YC fund itself in addition to the equity in individual companies. That would also give employees an incentive to support other employees in the cohort.

Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2018?

#173

Post by sharemywin » Mon, Jun 11, 2018, 8:19 PM UTC

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #132

sharemywin wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was a consultant, I liked two things about my company. I was paid by the hour, which kept my company honest. I was paid when I was "on the beach"(bench), but I was expected to train and get tech certifications

Interestingly, I strongly prefer not being paid by the hour. I find time-clocking incredibly irritating, as I may be inspired to a solution or want to fix something outside of hours, which is pretty common for me. And similarly, I don't want to feel bad about if I am doing something wrong or not the most efficiently, but still charging full price for that time. Possibly the most irritating thing for me in times I was…

I didn't have to clock in I just needed to enter my billable hours.

Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2018?

#174

Post by snowmaker » Mon, Jun 11, 2018, 8:19 PM UTC

darklighter3 wrote: post #166

Agree with the points around increasing equity and comp. One thing about option plans is that the devil is in the details. How things play out in a liquidity event or the tax ramifications can be large based upon how the plan was set up years prior. My guess is founders probably don't spend a lot of time sweating these details and the lawyers are concerned about protecting the company. YC could help by pushing for pl…

Those are great suggestions - thanks!

Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2018?

#175

Post by amyjess » Mon, Jun 11, 2018, 8:19 PM UTC

megamindbrian2 wrote: post #99

No healthcare at a startup.

The one time I worked at a startup, the lack of healthcare made me borderline suicidal.

I was beginning my gender transition when I worked there, and my doctor bills were bankrupting me.

Never again. Never ever ever ever again. I'm not touching a company with fewer than 500 employees again.

Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2018?

#176

Post by thetrb » Mon, Jun 11, 2018, 8:19 PM UTC

nieksand wrote: post #2

Just a few cons.... The big players have drastically pushed up developer comp. The "maybe" money that might come from a best-case startup exit isn't holding up well against the RSUs of the big players. I have friends pushing total comp north of 400K / year at the usual suspect companies. Over a five-year-span-till-liquidity your "maybe" money is competing against a near-guaranteed $2M in comp. Equity grants for early…

What also comes into the picture here is the extremely high cost of living in the Bay Area. Even startups have to offer $200k in non-"maybe" compensation to make sure people can afford living here. Even a relatively small size startup with 50 people now already has $10 million in salary costs per year (not even counting taxes, benefits, etc.).

So overall the balance is tilted very much in favor of the big companies that can afford paying people that much. I'm wondering how that changes where startups get started. Is the Bay Area still the dominant place for this?

Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2018?

#177

Post by JetSpiegel » Mon, Jun 11, 2018, 8:20 PM UTC

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #22

Having not worked in the Valley or a startup, I can say the biggest con to me is a lack of stability. You can get a job at BigCo or even MediumSizedButBeenAroundTwoDecadesCo and be reasonably sure you'll still have a job... as long as you want to work there. But with a startup, either they run out of money and you lose your job, they pivot and don't need you and you lose your job, or they get acquired and you very li…

Competing with Wipro and other body shops? Good luck with that.

Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2018?

#178

Post by dunpeal » Mon, Jun 11, 2018, 8:20 PM UTC

jboy55 wrote: post #145

shamino wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. I joined a moderately successful startup (good acquisition where founders made > $1 m) and the rewards were not worth the risks as an early employee. Also, the RSUs are low risk, high rewards at the "usual suspects". Unless you love working on a small team with more autonomy, but without comfortable resources and losing sleep over whether your company will be there next week, I just don't see the attraction of…

Just be warned, a startup often has the promise of more autonomy, but there are plenty of startups run by ego-centric micromanaging wanna-be engineers. Be careful equating, 'being able to talk to the CEO' as autonomy, you may find yourself having to explain your decisions/code to people who's engineering skills are 'being able to convince a VC to give them money'. You'll also probably not tackle 'large problems' but…

That's absolutely true. The assumption "that you will always get more autonomy at startups" is fanciful.

In reality, many if not most startups are run by inexperienced and often immature managers and engineers who are substantially less qualified and skilled at running a team than their equivalents in more mature tech companies.

Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2018?

#179

Post by kenhwang » Mon, Jun 11, 2018, 8:22 PM UTC

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #22

Having not worked in the Valley or a startup, I can say the biggest con to me is a lack of stability. You can get a job at BigCo or even MediumSizedButBeenAroundTwoDecadesCo and be reasonably sure you'll still have a job... as long as you want to work there. But with a startup, either they run out of money and you lose your job, they pivot and don't need you and you lose your job, or they get acquired and you very li…

These positions do exist. The VC maintains an engineering team that gets lent out to the businesses they're invested in.

Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2018?

#180

Post by joejerryronnie » Mon, Jun 11, 2018, 8:22 PM UTC

CodeCube wrote: post #109

driverdan wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very few YC startups allow remote work and a large percentage are in expensive areas like the bay.

This is such a massive point right here ... there is so much talent, either already in "far flung" parts of the country; or currently in a place like SF, but who long to move "back home" for any number of reasons. Having startups be more remote-friendly by default would be a huge boon for everyone involved.

This might be the one and only competitive advantage startups can offer over the big (and even mid sized) tech companies now. As previously mentioned, the compensation is so large at the established tech companies, and the (mostly) false promises of startup wealth are largely debunked, that allowing all workers the ability to move to lower cost areas or back home but still work in a dynamic industry is very appealing.

One of the risks of remote work is the next opportunity. What happens if you land a great remote job, move your family across the country, and then realize the new job/boss/company is not a great fit? Right now, it can be a challenge to find a comparable position offering full time remote flexibility. But if all startups offered full time remote, then the network effect occurs, leading more candidates to want this option and opening up a larger pool of qualified applicants for startup companies to work with.

If YC could facilitate this industry trend, you could be helping startups with talent acquisition, helping workers establish better lives in lower cost locales, helping to spread tech talent and opportunities around the country, and helping the Bay Area (and other highly impacted tech hubs) ease some of the housing and transportation issues. If this is a successful startup trend, I guarantee the big tech companies will follow.