How to get a job at a startup if you aren’t a developer

Post by aridiculous » Thu, Apr 21, 2011, 5:56 PM UTC

gersh wrote: post #28

aridiculous wrote: post #16

I had to learn most of this stuff on my own, but it's a very good summary to pass on to my friends. Seems like startups are getting more and more mainstream. The problem is most college grads in non-technical fields generally don't have skills beyond being smart, maybe. I was one of them. This wouldn't be too much of an issue but most also don't like or aren't any good at selling. The way I see it, you have to do som…

You could be a good writer or designer. Video skills can be useful. Research skills can also be useful.

I'd agree with designer and possibly video, but I count those as technical skills depending on the type of startup.

Writing and research, I think, have to be bundled with other skillsets at the very early stages. If you have 2-3 people, you can't have a pure writer or researcher.

Post by jsavimbi » Fri, Apr 22, 2011, 7:43 PM UTC

18pfsmt wrote: post #29

jsavimbi wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That makes sense if you're not a technology-only company (see disclaimer). The space is probably/could be crowded and they're going to need some sharp assets to get the word out and obtain customers, but in my case where every sale incurs more work from engineering, one has to balance it out or else we'll end up with a bunch of over-eager sales people signing low-end deals and a couple of angry, burned-out developers…

Actually, we were a technology company. We developed embedded systems for RFID/ NFC technology to sell and license to OEMs. Firmware for DSPs and MCUs is some of the harder technology I've been involved with. I'm not sure I understand your point. FYI, ASIC stands for Application Specific Integrated Circuit.

I thought you meant sneakers.

Again, it all depends on the maturity of the startup in question, the market and the need for highly-paid non-technical people whose contributions can bring home the bacon. If they don't, then they're just a drain on resources or could just be there to prop up the appearance of success in the eyes of the market or investors.

Did Dick Cheney actually run Halliburton or was he there to steer business to the firm? I think empirical evidence would point to the later. So when you do look around and wonder what exactly it is this person does in relation to their job title/description, there may be more than meets the eye and in personal experience nepotism has a lot to do with their presence as sometimes it's just hard to finding the candidate that's a perfect fit and you may have to just hire someone you know and hope they grow into the role.

I understand that a lot of people who read HN are young and tech-focused, but there's a lot more to it than landing a job at a hot startup out of school and the more one understands about their environment and how to apply their skills appropriately, the easier it'll be for them to succeed.

Re: How to get a job at a startup if you aren’t a developer

Re: How to get a job at a startup if you aren’t a developer