Want to found a startup? Work at one first
blog.lawrencejones.dev
Want to found a startup? Work at one first
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Re: Want to found a startup? Work at one first
#2Author here!
I've been speaking with friends about starting their own companies recently, and one thing it's made me consider is what experience would best prepare you to become a founder.
Having spent my career in start-ups, the idea of founding my own without first working at one and seeing what works terrifies me. There's so much stuff you only learn from doing it over and over again, at different company sizes, and seeing how it works/doesn't.
I thought it might be useful to share some of that experience, if only to justify why joining an existing start-up can be an amazing education for anyone wanting to start their own. As opposed to, for example, joining an existing big-corp or jumping straight into start-ups without that experience.
Re: Want to found a startup? Work at one first
#3Great blog post, particularly the anecdotes about working at GoCardless. Thanks for sharing
Re: Want to found a startup? Work at one first
#4If you lack the confidence to start a startup then working at one can help you gain than to create one in the future. But I'm not confident it increases the chances the company is going to be successful.
Actually if you had the chance to work at a company that became a unicorn, you will have better chance to get founding which increase the chance that your company is going to work, so yeah.
Except for that confidence and founding part I'm not sure it is valuable
Re: Want to found a startup? Work at one first
#5Hmm I feel like most founders I know just started companies after college without much experience. While people that want to get experience first seem to never end up starting a company. I think it mostly comes down to risk adversity.
Re: Want to found a startup? Work at one first
#6If you lack the confidence to start a startup then working at one can help you gain than to create one in the future. But I'm not confident it increases the chances the company is going to be successful. Actually if you had the chance to work at a company that became a unicorn, you will have better chance to get founding which increase the chance that your company is going to work, so yeah. Except for that confidence…
But aren't these already valuable? I now run my own startup and i feel i benefited a lot from my former stints in other startups, even when some of it fell into the "what not to do" category :)
Also in a startup you're more likely to need to wear multiple hats and deal with uncertainty, which are two things you'd definitely need to deal with even more in your own company.
Re: Want to found a startup? Work at one first
#7> I believe if you want the best chance of succeeding as a founder, first join an existing high-growth start-up where you can learn what good looks like, before you start something yourself.
We're all entitled to our beliefs, but this seems very specific to me. Why doe sit have to be "high-growth"? What if your startup isn't meant to be "high-growth"? Why do you specifically have to work at a startup? I believe getting some work experience is a good idea, mostly just because if you want to put other people's livelihood in your hands, one should probably mature a bit.
Additionally, this advice falls into the classic trap of "I did this, and therefore I think everyone else should". The advice could be true, or it could not, there is no way of knowing, so at the end of the day, the value of such advice is pretty low, IMO.
Re: Want to found a startup? Work at one first
#8Hmm I feel like most founders I know just started companies after college without much experience. While people that want to get experience first seem to never end up starting a company. I think it mostly comes down to risk adversity.
I think this may just be your bubble - I'm 39 and worked as a programmer since I was 18 in 3 different cities/countries & I know lots of both experienced people and people out of college who started companies.
Re: Want to found a startup? Work at one first
#9I've worked at several startups, but my experience has been that I've been relatively siloed in my work. Maybe I wasn't taking advantage of the startup experience, but aside my limited view at standups, I didn't know how the sausage was made in different areas of the company. I couldn't see how it all fit together, because I had an incomplete picture.
Re: Want to found a startup? Work at one first
#10If you lack the confidence to start a startup then working at one can help you gain than to create one in the future. But I'm not confident it increases the chances the company is going to be successful. Actually if you had the chance to work at a company that became a unicorn, you will have better chance to get founding which increase the chance that your company is going to work, so yeah. Except for that confidence…
I'm first employee at a start-up now, and while not a founder, the experience I have from seeing this stuff in previous companies totally changes the game.
When we decide to do something, such as make key hires, build new teams or invest in infrastructure, we have way more confidence that we're doing it at the right time. And when we do it, it's 90% what we need, skipping so many of the painful intermediate stages I've seen before.
It makes a huge difference in velocity, which is key for successful start-ups. So while you're right about funding and network, you execute better too.