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What frustrates me the most as an entrepreneur

joshliu.co

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Re: What frustrates me the most as an entrepreneur

#31

Post by BerislavLopac »

thomasgerbe wrote: post #8

I wonder what life would be like if salaries were publicized in the same way as professional athletes. I've had situations where extremely intelligent and productive fellow employees left the company because they found out someone else of the same level was making a lot more than they were. And by the time they offer a raise, the employee has already emotionally moved onto other pastures. I'll admit that when I found…

A good approach is to have a well-determined, public salary policy, as described by Joel Spolsky in http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000038.html

Re: What frustrates me the most as an entrepreneur

#32

Post by uniquejosh »

michaelochurch wrote: post #14

OP: You're one of the good ones, as far as I can tell. Please stay in the game. The real issue, I think, is that your job forces you to motivate people to take risks on your behalf and it feels like you're over-promising. A lot of success in business relies on motivating people (employees, clients, users) to help you succeed by promising what you'll be able to deliver if everything goes right... selling a vision, in…

Thanks Michael. Great comments.

I will definitely stay in the game for sure. :) I know it is important to motivate people. But, to the people who work so hard for your vision, I think founders need to take care of those hard-working employees. I feel frustrated because I wish I could offer what they deserve.

I think, start-ups need strong team with good talents. We are fighting with big companies and well paid jobs. If we just wanna take people who are willing to take high risk to join the start-ups, we are gonna miss out a lot of great talents.

Start-ups are fun, and we can attract great talent. But, we all need to pay rent and survive. I am just hoping that we could find a balance, pay the talents a fair salary, and enjoy the fun start-up ride together.

Josh :)

Re: What frustrates me the most as an entrepreneur

#33

Post by uniquejosh »

BerislavLopac wrote: post #31
thomasgerbe wrote: post #8

I wonder what life would be like if salaries were publicized in the same way as professional athletes. I've had situations where extremely intelligent and productive fellow employees left the company because they found out someone else of the same level was making a lot more than they were. And by the time they offer a raise, the employee has already emotionally moved onto other pastures. I'll admit that when I found…

A good approach is to have a well-determined, public salary policy, as described by Joel Spolsky in http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000038.html

thanks, good information!!

Re: What frustrates me the most as an entrepreneur

#34

Post by billswift »

uniquejosh wrote: post #28
dreamdu5t wrote: post #13

Promises are meaningless in business. This great UX guy shouldn't take your low pay for a second. He's probably a great UX guy because he's focused on UX and not investing. He needs to be paid well or he won't be able to focus on UX 110% Remember, not being an investor if your business doesn't pan out it's much harder on him than a guy who has a portfolio to fall back on. He'll also likely resent you. This resentment…

I liked what you said. Yes, I want him to focus on UX 110%, and not worry too much on the money. But, the fair rate to him is too high to us. That is the struggle. I am sure we will find a fee we are both fine with. But, I just wish that I could pay him, or anyone in the team, the rate reflecting their value. That is it. :)

Find someone that may not be quite that good, but is ambitious and still learning, then help him grow into what you need.

Re: What frustrates me the most as an entrepreneur

#35

Post by trafficlight »

BerislavLopac wrote: post #31
thomasgerbe wrote: post #8

I wonder what life would be like if salaries were publicized in the same way as professional athletes. I've had situations where extremely intelligent and productive fellow employees left the company because they found out someone else of the same level was making a lot more than they were. And by the time they offer a raise, the employee has already emotionally moved onto other pastures. I'll admit that when I found…

A good approach is to have a well-determined, public salary policy, as described by Joel Spolsky in http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000038.html

This is good stuff. As the article was written in 2000, does anyone know how these things panned out? Is Fogcreek still using this plan?

Re: What frustrates me the most as an entrepreneur

#36

Post by delinka »

My idea involves having some capital to work with, but I'd still like to hear some feedback. When hiring people, you tell them up from "we're willing to pay you up to $AMOUNT in cash and/or stock as annual compensation. What percentage of that would do you want as salary with the remainder as stock?"

Re: What frustrates me the most as an entrepreneur

#37

Post by ori_b »

rumpelstiltskin wrote: post #17
michaelochurch wrote: post #14

OP: You're one of the good ones, as far as I can tell. Please stay in the game. The real issue, I think, is that your job forces you to motivate people to take risks on your behalf and it feels like you're over-promising. A lot of success in business relies on motivating people (employees, clients, users) to help you succeed by promising what you'll be able to deliver if everything goes right... selling a vision, in…

The VCs have the well-paid, cushy, powerful and easy jobs and are pretty much guaranteed by their path-of-low-resistance career track to be rich Then why doesn't everyone and their mom become a VC? Hint: Because it's nowhere near as easy as you think it is.

While I'm not a VC, and I don't know enough to comment on how hard the job itself is, I do know that it takes a significant amount of capital. Not everyone and their mom has enough capital, and therefore, they're not in a position to become a VC.

It is plausible that the barrier to entry is high, but the job is easy.

Re: What frustrates me the most as an entrepreneur

#38

Post by tlianza »

blackboxxx wrote: post #15

I'm conflicted about this post. I think your expressions are heartfelt, but it sounds like you've been window shopping when you don't have the funds to buy. If you knew you didn't have the money to fairly pay for this designer's services, why ask? To the more cynical among us, this post may seem like a manipulative way to indirectly guilt-trip this guy into working for you far below his asking rate. Look, you know ho…

> If you knew you didn't have the money to fairly pay for this designer's services, why ask?

By this equation, a startup without a lot of VC money wouldn't have a shot at hiring anyone great - and yet a startup needs great people. Put simply, if you want to make a lot of money at minimal risk, run far away from startups. Go work at a big tech company who's a money making machine, become employee 29751, and enjoy your biweekly paycheck which will come whether you work hard or not.

The equation at a startup is different. You have to love what you do, first and foremost. That's not measured in dollars, but not hating the place where you spend most of your non-sleeping hours is worth a lot. Secondly, you really have to believe in the company, and your impact on it. Without that, you'll value your equity at $0, and the financial side of things will wear on you (you will believe you're being paid unfairly).

Part of attracting great people is making sure they believe in you, and making sure you can provide a great work environment for them. The people who are strictly motivated by salary are probably not going to work out. There are still a lot of great people willing to take on some risk so long as it's something they believe in.

Re: What frustrates me the most as an entrepreneur

#39

Post by angryasian »

as a founder and an engineer.. you are being naive. You know how many times we hear, "I have a billion dollar idea, all i need is 1% of xxx market". Yes we all hope our startups will be successful, but in the end engineers and designers have to look out for our own best interests, as the odds are stacked against you and more than likely you will fail. While your idea has some social proof ( http://www.maven.co/knowledge-marketplace , http://www.liveperson.com/experts ) , its very hard to convince people your idea is good.. especially if its an extremely new idea, and second hard to hire the best at lower than market value, especially if you are a first time founder with no experience raising funding ( the TC article does you no help either).

You should see if he would be willing to contract with you, while allowing him to work another job and possibly give him equity incentives along with pay.

Re: What frustrates me the most as an entrepreneur

#40

Post by blackboxxx »

tlianza wrote: post #38
blackboxxx wrote: post #15

I'm conflicted about this post. I think your expressions are heartfelt, but it sounds like you've been window shopping when you don't have the funds to buy. If you knew you didn't have the money to fairly pay for this designer's services, why ask? To the more cynical among us, this post may seem like a manipulative way to indirectly guilt-trip this guy into working for you far below his asking rate. Look, you know ho…

> If you knew you didn't have the money to fairly pay for this designer's services, why ask? By this equation, a startup without a lot of VC money wouldn't have a shot at hiring anyone great - and yet a startup needs great people. Put simply, if you want to make a lot of money at minimal risk, run far away from startups. Go work at a big tech company who's a money making machine, become employee 29751, and enjoy your…

Me believing in your startup is included in my rate. So is passion. If you're going to nickel and dime my rate, both will affected.
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