Why I Quit My Job to Start a Tech Company • Hacker News Board

Re: Why I Quit My Job to Start a Tech Company

#11

Post by iqster » Wed, Aug 03, 2011, 4:15 PM UTC

Pretty motivational stuff! Props!!

1) As an aside, he says his job was Private Equity Investor. Does that mean we worked for a hedge fund?

2) How does one get hired as a PEI right out of college? I'm just curious what skill set is required. What do they do exactly?

Re: Why I Quit My Job to Start a Tech Company

#12

Post by tansey » Wed, Aug 03, 2011, 4:16 PM UTC

CapitalistCartr wrote: post #9

Casc wrote: post #3

250k 3 years out of college? Jesus... I have plenty of Ivy league friends in IB & PE making no where near that.. He landed a serious gig. Definitely tough to leave something so cushy so young. Sometimes it really is all about the game.

What is IB & PE?

Investment Banking and Private Equity

Re: Why I Quit My Job to Start a Tech Company

#13

Post by johnrob » Wed, Aug 03, 2011, 4:19 PM UTC

UncleOxidant wrote: post #10

Doing the opposite now. Spent the last year in a very early stage startup. Finally got fed up with the low pay ("but we're giving you equity...") and the lack of direction. It seemed like every other week we had a new direction. And the latest new direction was so bizarre that I'm tempted to make a mockumentary about the whole thing. Finally had enough of the startup scene; I'm going to go to work for a very large se…

You sound just like someone from 2001. No matter how much we try to rationalize and/or avoid it, the industry keeps going through the same cycles.

Re: Why I Quit My Job to Start a Tech Company

#14

Post by frankdenbow » Wed, Aug 03, 2011, 4:21 PM UTC

zmitri wrote: post #8

It seems to me like he is replacing money with "status." Building something on your own, and wanting to tell a room full of people about building something are completely different.

From what I know of Vin, this isn't the ethos of his thinking at all.

Re: Why I Quit My Job to Start a Tech Company

#15

Post by frankdenbow » Wed, Aug 03, 2011, 4:22 PM UTC

Iv wrote: post #6

frankdenbow wrote: post #4

Props for measuring success on metrics other than how much money you are making

Props for that but I am not sure that replacing the money metrics by the buzz metrics is the way to go.

True, although I dont think buzz metrics is what we are talking about in this case.

Re: Why I Quit My Job to Start a Tech Company

#16

Post by knieveltech » Wed, Aug 03, 2011, 4:25 PM UTC

Nemisis7654 wrote: post #5

As a young man still in college who wants to build something, this was very inspiring. Especially this line: The only way to know how good you might be at something is to fail trying it. Great post. I'm bookmarking it.

It is worth keeping in mind that pithy little catch phrases like this typically ignore the fact that failure can come with some life-altering consequences. It seems like nobody wants to talk about filing for bankruptcy after running up a quarter of a mil in combined school loans and credit card debt.

Re: Why I Quit My Job to Start a Tech Company

#17

Post by itg » Wed, Aug 03, 2011, 4:26 PM UTC

Casc wrote: post #3

250k 3 years out of college? Jesus... I have plenty of Ivy league friends in IB & PE making no where near that.. He landed a serious gig. Definitely tough to leave something so cushy so young. Sometimes it really is all about the game.

Yeah, I don't know anyone a few years out of college making that money in finance, even if you add in bonuses.

Re: Why I Quit My Job to Start a Tech Company

#18

Post by pitdesi » Wed, Aug 03, 2011, 4:30 PM UTC

Related, but very different: Reasons to leave the corporate world to join a startup (and why you should consider it too) http://feefighters.com/blog/5-reasons-to-leave-the-corporate...

Re: Why I Quit My Job to Start a Tech Company

#19

Post by pitdesi » Wed, Aug 03, 2011, 4:41 PM UTC

iqster wrote: post #11

Pretty motivational stuff! Props!! 1) As an aside, he says his job was Private Equity Investor. Does that mean we worked for a hedge fund? 2) How does one get hired as a PEI right out of college? I'm just curious what skill set is required. What do they do exactly?

1) Private Equity is different from hedge funds... PE is investing rich people and institutional money in private companies, Hedge funds invest mostly in public stocks, though recently there has been a lot of alternative investments in this sector too... They "hedge" the market by having a mix of shorts and longs. PE and HF are very different, though related.

2) It's pretty hard... typically you go to banking for 2 years and then get to Private Equity via a headhunter (there are plenty that specialize in this exact thing)

Re: Why I Quit My Job to Start a Tech Company

#20

Post by rdouble » Wed, Aug 03, 2011, 4:43 PM UTC

Casc wrote: post #3

250k 3 years out of college? Jesus... I have plenty of Ivy league friends in IB & PE making no where near that.. He landed a serious gig. Definitely tough to leave something so cushy so young. Sometimes it really is all about the game.

It seems like a baller gig like that would make it _easier_ to quit and start something up. You'd be able to save so much more money, than say, someone who took a typical Silicon Valley entry level programming job. If he had chosen to work at Google, he'd have been lucky to make 1/2 that.