Want to found a startup? Work at one first

Potentially good advice here, but some of the details seem off to me. Here are some quick attempts to summarize hopefully as constructive criticism:

In my experience the best options are almost always the middle ground. That is, the startup mentality drives sloppiness and excuses while the big company mentality drives slowness and perfectionism. The best option is somewhere in between. At a startup it can often be extremely valuable to have a "parent in the room" enforce big company thinking and oversight, and at a big company it is almost always useful to at least envision a shorter path than the usual consult with everyone and make a design and see how it goes kind of thing.

The "allows you to respond with “I know this will be ok”" statement as a reaction to major changes and challenges sets off red lights all over my dashboard. The situation will be okay because you made it okay. This is true in companies of all sizes. Fail to take responsibility for the full situation and you are likely doomed.

The "any process you introduce will break by the time you double the headcount" strikes me as classic startup sloppiness. If you really know what the situation is and why you are doing what you are doing then even when changes are necessary it is usually quite explicitly clear what and why. Solid processes and operations often go the other way: even with significant changes the core ideas and methods endure, so be careful what you start with.

Hiring from your personal networks first is another classic sloppy startup error. This tends to end up with clubby teams made of people who aren't actually as good as they might be and that exclude the people you really want to hire. Better to start well outside your personal networks and bring people in as needed. Sorting out the interview process at least at first also works better if it isn't all friends and long time coworkers.

And this business of defining levels is a real mess. All the best organizations I have contributed to have been close to flat.

There are always many paths, but given how treacherous the path to startup success can be it seems worthwhile to air criticism.

That bank quote is too funny! What was the product if one may ask?

I feel like this article makes valid points, but they don't necessarily support its conclusion. The question it asks whether to start a startup or work at another startup first. Yes, working at a startup and gaining experience will likely improve your abilities and increase your chances to succeed later. However, so would starting your own startup.

The question about working somewhere else is not "is it better than nothing", but "is it better than starting a startup now". It can be equally true that "founders that worked at other companies before are more likely to succeed" and "the ideal course of action for a person who wishes to start a successful startup is to start it now".

This seems about right. Startup ideas are the white collar equivalent of day dreaming about how you would spend the money if you won the lottery. It's cheap to talk about, easy to fantasize about, and many people have a very distorted perception of what skills are necessary to be an effective tech founder so (in their minds) their technical proficiency makes it plausible.

I see that in real life at the moment, the part about the badly run start-up. With some experience, it is easy to spot the mistakes. Most employees are too young / unexperienced so realize it. Heck, half of the middle management is still at their first jobs out of university. And man, it shows. Nowhere near FAANG in terms or organisation or best practices.

Great place to learn a thing or two, if you have the necessary background and experience.