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Why I Quit My Job to Start a Tech Company

viniciusvacanti.com

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

#21

Post by agotterer »

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…

Startups aren't for everyone and not all startups are created equal. It would be unfair to assume all startups are misdirected and low paying. There are plenty of positions that pay market rate salaries and give equity. While you can definitely make a greater base salary at a semiconductor company or "adult" job. You miss out of the potential upside of startup equity, the excitement of a growing startup, wearing many different hats and trying to build something disruptive.

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

#22

Post by Casc »

rdouble wrote: post #20
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.

I'd agree with your logic if he was in the tech industry, but he wasn't. He had 0 technical skills, his barrier to entry was far greater than money.

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

#24

Post by narenl »

frankdenbow wrote: post #14
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.

I second that. I do not know him personally but I've spoken to him at a Product meetup in NYC and came away impressed by his level-headedness, tenacity and willingness to share what he had learnt the hard way. I've been following his blog since then.

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

#25

Post by a3camero »

knieveltech wrote: post #16
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.

It's also worth keeping in mind that he was making $250k a year doing something shortly after school and then started this company. Presumably he has a lot more of something or rather than the average (or even above average) person. His story is an extreme outlier.

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

#28

Post by kshiiba »

almightygod wrote: post #26

yipit, really? Yet another "Daily Deal" site is what the conf considered most likely to succeed?

they aren't just another "daily deal site"--they're trying to own the space. also, from what I hear, their yipit data product (data and analytics on the daily deal space) has already experienced good traction from hedge funds and others interested in this growing space.

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

#29

Post by Maro »

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.

This thread is freaking me out =)

So you start a company and you're not supposed to care about money nor buzz? So how do you measure success?

The answer for a for-profit company must ultimately be money.

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