If none of them is technical then why aren't you the CTO?
Ask HN: losing faith in the startup where I'm employee #1
51–60 of 109 posts
Re: Ask HN: losing faith in the startup where I'm employee #1
#52As you look to what's next, don't forget to look at what patterns you may have that are contributing to the environment so you don't repeat them.
The line that jumped out at me was the "killjoy" one. You may be the only voice of reason in the room, or collectively you may all be trying to solve essential issues. Measure the new ideas against the goals of your company, and then help prioritize. Make sure you understand the goal and intent, make sure they understand the cost of pursuing (the stuff that gets abandoned or pushed down) and then make the right move going forward.
I think this will help you in the current situation as well as your new one if you decide to move on.
Re: Ask HN: losing faith in the startup where I'm employee #1
#53Almost every startup has gloomy periods, and often more than one. The patent is a really bad signal IMHO (I did this once). It's great that you value your relationship, and you should try to keep it that way if you can. They will need some help transitioning you out of the company, and so you should give them more than the usual 2 weeks notice IMHO. I gave 3 months notice once. Best of luck
Re: Ask HN: losing faith in the startup where I'm employee #1
#54Why don't you have any users? One thing you must always do in startup land is focus on the users of your company.
IF you truly have none, well. No great loss if you bail.
But if you could have more, just haven't actually focused on the user sufficiently well to have a fair few of them, then I suggest you: Focus On The User.
Startup-dilemna can be overwhelming, especially when its as catastrophic as your situation sounds, but that is why it is good indeed to have a few faithful rules to guide yourself by. If you're a tech guy, you love what you're doing, really, then you must have happy users somewhere.
Or?
Re: Ask HN: losing faith in the startup where I'm employee #1
#55Move on. Quick. Three non-tech founders, after 1yr no funding, patenting in early stage ... you are wasting time. Don't worry about the personal relationship. Just stay polite, try to reason your leave, why you have to move on and that you stay available for smaller Q&A. They will try to convince you to stay and to sell the big dream (that's their job) and maybe subtly pressure you by not liking you anymore. But that…
Time/money. Getting patents early on is a large waste of resources, and then really causes your path to be fixed (re: "keep trying to implement that technology in products although it doesn't really solve anything").
Re: Ask HN: losing faith in the startup where I'm employee #1
#56I am not the first and probably won't be the last to say: you should probably leave. Find another job, and leave this one.
What does "well connected" mean? If they were really well-connected, you'd probably have funding... and VCs with an active interest in getting users for the product. Well-connected means that VCs who don't fund you will mentor you until you are fundable. It means that you can get TechCrunch coverage with a phone call. That's what "well connected" means.
Too many people sell themselves as being "well connected" when they aren't. 99.9 percent of us (and 99.99 percent of the smart ones) are peasant people who don't have that kind of access that would merit having a non-technical founder.
There is an alternate strategy to the "leave now" advice that you are getting. I'm going to explore it just for the sake of doing so, although the default advice of "quit now" stands. If these founders are well-connected, they can prove it. Ask to go to investor meetings and the various other high-society shindigs they attend to keep up their connections. They might as well, because it sounds like they're not paying you. If they do so, then you can evaluate for yourself whether they're well-connected enough to merit staying in this long-shot startup (and you can make connections yourself). Sitting in on the investor meetings will also give you a voice in technical decisions because you'll have your own perspective on the business needs.
Chances are, they'll say no. It's very unlikely that these "well connected" "idea guys" will let a lowly JAP (JAP = Just A Programmer) in his early 20s sit in on investor meetings. This refusal will make it clear to you how little this personal affinity/loyalty you feel toward them actually means... not much, on their end. If this happens, then you should leave without reservation or any feeling of guilt.
Re: Ask HN: losing faith in the startup where I'm employee #1
#57Just be honest with them. You don't have a shot at solving any of these problems unless you tell them what's wrong. This stuck out:
'During meetings, I always feel like a killjoy by attempting to be realistic and focused and reserved about the brand new idea they come up with every other week and that I need to get started on right when the meeting ends.'
I have a non-technical co-founder who does the same thing. If they don't even bother to become the slightest bit technical (which would help them understand how writing software works, and how long it actually takes) then they aren't co-founding material. You need to be firm with them. "No, we need to remain focused on building up the feature set we already have, and making it perfect. All the bugs in the existing code need to be fixed before we start adding features."
Re: Ask HN: losing faith in the startup where I'm employee #1
#58Be honest. Tell them about your thoughts and conclusion (that this is not sustainable), there is a fair chance this will resolve your predicament _and_ strengthen your relationship.
Re: Ask HN: losing faith in the startup where I'm employee #1
#59This may sound counter intuitive, but you have far more to lose by staying than by moving on. In fact you face a couple significant risks that increase the longer you're there.
First, the founders may sense your lack of "enthusiasm" and realize that your chances of leaving are high. To protect the company's reputation from the public vote of no confidence implicit in your quitting, they may decide to take the initiative and fire you. Yes, this type of behavior is underhanded but it's more common than you may think. Imagine trying to explain to a hiring manager that you were fired because you planned to quit. Unfortunately, no one will believe you.
Second, you're part of a sinking ship and as the tech lead there's no way to separate your reputation from it. The longer you stay, the longer you expose your personal brand to the failure at large.
My last advice is the most important because it should guide all of your career decisions. Do not let fear suppress your better judgement. Step back from the reasons you listed for staying at the company and you'll realize that fear is the commonality. Fear isn't your friend. It will mislead you.
Re: Ask HN: losing faith in the startup where I'm employee #1
#60I've been in the same position myself (college -> startup) and without reading the other comments I give you two questions to think about:
1. Are you making good progress on a personal level? (meaning learning the things you want to learn at a good pace.)
2. Does it have a negative impact on your financials?
I kept going until I was 15k € in debt and the startup was closed down. I don't regret it because I learnt so much. It took me less than 6 months to pay back my debt and I'm glad I didn't quit when things looked bad.