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I want to get into startups, but I don’t know where to start

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Re: I want to get into startups, but I don’t know where to start

#21

Post by zenbowman »

untog wrote: post #14

It’s no surprise that Alex mistakenly chose a big company over a startup straight out of school even though he was already interested in startups. That was not necessarily a mistake. As a fresh college grad (and particularly as an engineer) I'd argue that you are ill-equipped to judge a good startup opportunity from a bad one. There is absolutely nothing wrong with spending time at a large company, benefitting from t…

Agreed, was just about to say this. I worked at a startup straight out of school, but that was because it was a spinoff of a research project I was already working on.

However, I'm at a more established firm now, and the fact that I can spend time building systems properly and work on self-development is invaluable. I think working for a big company, even a giant bureaucracy, out of school, is not a bad thing at all, provided you can spend a few hours independently working on side projects.

Re: I want to get into startups, but I don’t know where to start

#22

Post by rayiner »

On the issue of having a presence on campus: if you're not one of the really hot start-ups, putting up a fall recruiting booth at Harvard probably isn't going to sway those kids who have offers at Goldman or McKinsey as an alternative. However, it can be quite valuable to cultivate relationships with professors at local schools a rung or two down. There are brilliant kids at those schools who won't get the time of day from pedigree-conscious Wall Street, and professors are often quite well placed to identify them, based on interactions over a semester. It's a win for them, because they love being able to hook someone up with an inside lead on a good job, and it can be a great way for a start-up to get pre-vetted candidates.

Re: I want to get into startups, but I don’t know where to start

#23

Post by ryandrake »

angersock wrote: post #6
angersock wrote: post #4

This is going to be rough, but here are some scattered thoughts in a Q/A format: I want to get into a startup, where do I start? Find a problem and sell a solution. Not rocket science. But I can't find a problem! Try getting outside of the hedges of your university and talking with normal people, business owners, and civil servants. I will give you a hundred bucks if you can't find anyone with something to bitch abou…

Elaborating with some direct personal experience: If you find a customer, and find a solution, and make a tentative sale, don't go wander off and do something else. An otherwise bright young lady I worked with last year has all three things: problem, solution, and customers. She's going off this summer to intern at Deloitte instead of building her business, because she "wants to learn more about business". You know w…

How many customers, how quickly was she growing? If you can't turn 10 customers into 1,000, then 100,000 quickly, you're wasting your precious time and are probably better off at Deloitte.

I've sold apps and had customers, but not at the scale that would let me quit my day job.

Re: I want to get into startups, but I don’t know where to start

#25

Post by untog »

donretag wrote: post #24

For me personally it is more like: I want to get into startups, but I don’t want to give up my large paycheck and 40 hour work week. The article does not address the money issue.

Then you don't want to get into startups. That's not really what this article is about, though.

Re: I want to get into startups, but I don’t know where to start

#26

Post by rhizome »

mbesto wrote: post #18
untog wrote: post #14

It’s no surprise that Alex mistakenly chose a big company over a startup straight out of school even though he was already interested in startups. That was not necessarily a mistake. As a fresh college grad (and particularly as an engineer) I'd argue that you are ill-equipped to judge a good startup opportunity from a bad one. There is absolutely nothing wrong with spending time at a large company, benefitting from t…

I started my career at SAP. Although I feel like I'm behind the "startup curve" because I spent 4 years there, the lessons I learned about managing teams and understanding complexities in a large company are absolutely priceless. I don't believe it was a mistake whatsoever. You and I are probably being too pedantic, but I agree, it was a poor choice of words. Lately, I've noticed a meme from investors about discernin…

By and large, I suspect the only Internet companies that would ever need to exceed Dunbar's number[1] are those that have to implement advertising and sales functions. What is the largest subscription-based or one-time-purchase site?

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number

Re: I want to get into startups, but I don’t know where to start

#27

Post by nlh »

untog wrote: post #25
donretag wrote: post #24

For me personally it is more like: I want to get into startups, but I don’t want to give up my large paycheck and 40 hour work week. The article does not address the money issue.

Then you don't want to get into startups. That's not really what this article is about, though.

Exactly. What you want is "the fun of an energetic culture and the chance to make a ton of money when the startup goes public" but without taking the risk associated with that, which is precisely giving up your stable (high) paycheck and 9-5ish schedule.

*although, thankfully, the schedule-regularity theme is starting to show up more regularly in startup culture, which is a good change.

Re: I want to get into startups, but I don’t know where to start

#28

Post by kevinskii »

changdizzle wrote: post #17

Another point that should be brought up is to not overvalue yourself. I remember asking Justin (from JTV/exec/socialcam) in 2011 for some advice - I was working in the corporate world and was ready to make the jump to a startup. At the time I was an IT consultant and was looking for PM roles at Dropbox/Foursquare/insert hot startup here. He gave some much needed but harsh feedback, essentially asking "Why should they…

Equally important is to not undervalue yourself. For a skilled engineer, moving from a publicly traded company to an early-stage startup is often a huge step backwards in many respects. If you want to take the plunge, great, but remember that proof of legitimacy goes both ways.

Re: I want to get into startups, but I don’t know where to start

#30

Post by sanderjd »

changdizzle wrote: post #17

Another point that should be brought up is to not overvalue yourself. I remember asking Justin (from JTV/exec/socialcam) in 2011 for some advice - I was working in the corporate world and was ready to make the jump to a startup. At the time I was an IT consultant and was looking for PM roles at Dropbox/Foursquare/insert hot startup here. He gave some much needed but harsh feedback, essentially asking "Why should they…

Isn't a reasonable answer to his question along the lines of "I am proven; I worked for X years on these Y projects". I'm not sure why so many startup people seem to think that non-startup experience is worthless. It limits the points of view and types of problem-solving experience you have available in your company if you're only willing to hire people who fit into a limited bucket like that.
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