What if you also get consulting/full time job at the same time? You can always turn the startup part-time if it doesn't pay the bill.
Ask HN: I'm lost. Please help
101–110 of 171 posts
Re: Ask HN: I'm lost. Please help
#102This situation is actually very simple, don't let it feel overcomplicated: Tell them you need an actual salary and actual health insurance in the next 30 days. If the venture can pay you to keep at it, that's great. Otherwise you'll have to start looking around for a real job in a couple of weeks. Even the most brick-and-mortar type of businessperson will completely understand this. Stick to your schedule. It will ei…
Great way to think about this. These kinds of problems can feel SO huge... until that first pay cheque hits. Then life becomes simple again Source: been there, lots
Well, right, but what if that payment never comes? At what point do you say, "I will not make money here, I need to get a job to support myself?" When the company closes its doors (supposing it even has an office)?
Re: Ask HN: I'm lost. Please help
#103I know why you wrote it. You know what you should do, but you are on the fence about it, or maybe don't want to, and you want us to tell you what you already know.
Re: Ask HN: I'm lost. Please help
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I feel as though I've invested too much time and energy to bail now. Look up Sunk Cost Fallacy. Also this related episode of Freakonomics is great: http://www.freakonomics.com/2011/09/30/new-freakonomics-radi...
But if you think about it, you're probably going to need to work with them for a long while if you stay. So it's not the best idea to stay any longer if you don't respect your team.
This, to me, is most valid point. Even if the company does start putting cash in your wallet, if you don't believe in it, or the people leading it, or their business model, you're not going to be happy.
Re: Ask HN: I'm lost. Please help
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
To not comment on the rest, since it's highly dependent on your personal situation: "I feel as though I've invested too much time and energy to bail now." This is a very dangerous way to think about it. This is your life you're investing here. Perhaps to break it down to oversimplified but still valuable math: (probability of success)*(personal outcome) = expected outcome If you think they have a 10% chance of succee…
More succinctly: Learn to recognize a sunk cost. [1]: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/how-the-sunk-... [2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_costs
Better yet, here's a very relevant piece that tells you how to overcome the mental impediment to rationally considering situations with sunk costs involved. Basically, think about what you have to gain by changing things, rather than what you've already lost.
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/05/how-to-wal...
Re: Ask HN: I'm lost. Please help
#106Leave now. Get a 9-5 for at least the next 6 months, which should give you enough time to get to back in the real world. Then, the world is at your keyboard!
If you don't have an IP clause in the contract, take the IP with you.
Re: Ask HN: I'm lost. Please help
#107This situation is actually very simple, don't let it feel overcomplicated: Tell them you need an actual salary and actual health insurance in the next 30 days. If the venture can pay you to keep at it, that's great. Otherwise you'll have to start looking around for a real job in a couple of weeks. Even the most brick-and-mortar type of businessperson will completely understand this. Stick to your schedule. It will ei…
To not comment on the rest, since it's highly dependent on your personal situation: "I feel as though I've invested too much time and energy to bail now." This is a very dangerous way to think about it. This is your life you're investing here. Perhaps to break it down to oversimplified but still valuable math: (probability of success)*(personal outcome) = expected outcome If you think they have a 10% chance of succee…
I remember working at a start-up and realizing what a huge portion of my personal wealth was stuck in it, and that I couldn't just quit.
Eventually I did quit, and everything was okay.
If this is your second job ever, then it's natural that you feel like this job represents a huge portion of your life's work. That's only true in that it represents your life's work up to that point. When you are 60, this will be something you see as a tiny portion of your work life. Eventually when you list the things you are most technically proud of (which you said you are), this probably won't make the top 5, because you will make so many more awesome things over the course of your career.
Re: Ask HN: I'm lost. Please help
#108This situation is actually very simple, don't let it feel overcomplicated: Tell them you need an actual salary and actual health insurance in the next 30 days. If the venture can pay you to keep at it, that's great. Otherwise you'll have to start looking around for a real job in a couple of weeks. Even the most brick-and-mortar type of businessperson will completely understand this. Stick to your schedule. It will ei…
Disagree. If you've truly lost faith in the founders and business -- which you have -- you should leave now & cut your losses. It's not going to work out, regardless of salary. As for how to make money after you leave -- get a job or find consulting work. Then jump back into starting a business when you're ready again.
I agree totally but i will add one more option based on this quote "I believe in our product, but I don't believe in our business model." If this is the case and assuming u have nailed a customer pain point down since its been 15 months, i would suggest that you leave and execute the same idea with the business model you believe will work. If you and the VC are on the same page and these guys don't have much tech experience then they are clearly failing to execute and no salary, health insurance, free lunch is going to make you happy. Since at the end, they are still driving you into a ditch. If no other VC's want to bite then scrap the idea.
Since you already are doing consulting on the side, i think you may be able to squeeze 3 months in on trying to get funding, just make every action Fast, Focused and Fundamental to your objectives. Godspeed!
Re: Ask HN: I'm lost. Please help
#109To use some poker wisdom, don't get pot-committed. The time you've invested thus far is a sunk cost that you're not getting back regardless of how much longer you stay on. At this point in time you need to assess the probability of future success and base your decision to stay purely on that. If you believe there is no benefit to be had by staying there, you need to get out now before you incur more 'losses'.
Re: Ask HN: I'm lost. Please help
#110Start applying for a job now. Immediately. While you are negotiating, find options. You'll be glad you did.
^This, there is nothing stopping you from looking for a greener pasture while still involved, when it arrives jump off the fence instead of sitting on it.