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

blog.42floors.com

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

#41

Post by ForHackernews »

Edmond wrote: post #34
Xdes wrote: post #9

>negotiations, there are plenty good books out there. Such as? As a programmer that can't negotiate a decent salary/consulting rate I would find this useful.

The best and most valuable class I took in B-School was my last class, which was on negotiations. Nothing earth shattering but bits of wisdom when assembled together can really change your perspective on how to approach things. The basic problem is that whether due to culture or nature we tend to approach transactions as zero sum games (aka distributive), ie if I get something you must lose something. Negotiation is…

> If they bulk, then you make your case based on your analysis.

Minor nitpick: it's balk (or baulk)

http://grammarist.com/spelling/bulk-balk-baulk/

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

#42

Post by mindcrime »

Interesting article, but I'd ignore the entire section labeled "Marketing". I don't buy any notion that "traditional marketing" is any less important today than it ever was, nor do I agree that "growth hacking" in any sense whatsoever replaces, or competes with, "traditional marketing". Growth Hacking (to the extent that it even has any meaningful definition) is just one part (or a couple of parts) of an overall marketing mix[1]. And anyone who doesn't know the term "marketing mix" should go take a class in... wait for it... "traditional marketing".

Or to put it another way... if you're talking to a startup and the founders say anything like "we don't need marketing, we use growth hacking" then run away, as fast as you can.

[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_mix

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

#43

Post by lbr »

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…

There are huge differences between great startups and mediocre startups. This is just the same as at large companies.

With regard to this comment: there is nothing wrong with "spending time at a large company, benefitting from their experience in graduate intake, learning a lot of good, sensible practises, then applying them to a startup."

That is true. But there is also nothing wrong spending time at a small startup, learning good sensible practices, learning from smart people, learning from making mistakes, THEN applying these skills at large companies.

People often say "You'll learn a ton at amazon, then you can work anywhere." That is true, but you can also learn a lot if you work for a great startup.

The idea that you learn more at big companies is planted in students brains at these career fairs. And when GS and BofA come to campus to recruit. The idea spreads because startups don't come to campus and preach the reverse.

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

#44

Post by Edmond »

ForHackernews wrote: post #41
Edmond wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best and most valuable class I took in B-School was my last class, which was on negotiations. Nothing earth shattering but bits of wisdom when assembled together can really change your perspective on how to approach things. The basic problem is that whether due to culture or nature we tend to approach transactions as zero sum games (aka distributive), ie if I get something you must lose something. Negotiation is…

> If they bulk, then you make your case based on your analysis. Minor nitpick: it's balk (or baulk) http://grammarist.com/spelling/bulk-balk-baulk/

lol..thanks.

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

#45

Post by Edmond »

countrybama24 wrote: post #38
Xdes wrote: post #9

>negotiations, there are plenty good books out there. Such as? As a programmer that can't negotiate a decent salary/consulting rate I would find this useful.

tl;dr version: Leverage = BATNA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_alternative_to_a_negotiate...

Knowing your BATNA is important so you don't take a deal worse than your BATNA, but the whole point of negotiation is to get something better than your BATNA.

You should never lead a negotiation with your BATNA because then your counterpart is only going to give up the absolute minimum above your BATNA, thus depriving you of all the surplus.

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

#46

Post by peter303 »

The key points of the article are "Engineer" and "side projects". The engineers are an important and fun part of startups. Side projects are applications and code you can show people outside your company.

One sugggestion is to look for public developer groups in your area in meetup.com. Type keywords "java" or "mobile" and you get a number of them. Go to those meetings and hear about interesting things people are developing either as part of a company or a hobby. Get involved in an open-source type project, generally on github. Just downloading, building and runnng such software is a significant hurdle. Probe it to see how it works. Maybe thre are a group of people in the project with lots of side projects they dont have time for. Many of these projects are weak on the testing and documentation side. So if you improve those aspectd, that shows understanding of such projects without interferring with core development.

Then when you interview for a small company, you can show people what you have done. Maybe get references from others in the projects.

More likely some of these projects may become a company. The company may support the open source with production strength versions, fill gaps, etc.

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

#47

Post by orky56 »

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…

Similar logic when looking for a technical cofounder. Do you have a vision grand enough that you emanate that someone is willing to give up $150k to join you on your dream?

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

#48

Post by sayemm »

I've been working on startups more or less for most of my 20s (both as a founder and an employee at a venture-backed startup), I've learned a great deal from it, lost a lot from it and endured a lot of hardship, but I think the journey also transformed me and cut me out of wood (http://max.levch.in/post/36289276742/strengthen-your-startup...). So no regrets, I'm really excited about the future and I'm thinking long-term.

I disagree with this post though, if I had to start all over again out of college... my recommendation would be to start a profitable, bootstrapped business. Build that up to 7-figures and be financially independent. You'll earn your first stripes way earlier than most, at much lower risk, and once you attain that black belt, then you'll be ready to consider swinging for the fences with a startup. And people around you will want to bet on you too with your track record.

I'm 28yrs old now and that's my gameplan for the next few years. I'm tired of being poor.

Worth reading: http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/blog/2010/06/paths-to-5m-for-...

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

#49

Post by jusben1369 »

mikeg8 wrote: post #35
untog wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

It's still an important filter though and I think should have been mentioned. For people that think they want to get into startups but are unaware of the realities of the salaries, benefits, bonuses, number of raises etc, becoming aware of that is more important than deciding where you can help.

I think the idea here though is you're straight out of college. Whatever you make is more than you were making last year. Better to give it two hards years now vs even a few years later when you have established a higher cost of living.

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

#50

Post by xfax »

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…

To your comment about working at a big company not being a mistake (I agree), I think the art of learning through 'apprenticeship' is getting lost in the whole 'hacker' hullabaloo.

My first job out of college was at a large company and I worked with some old timers who had been in the industry for years and on code that, at least parts of it, had been written almost 20 years ago. Learning from my colleague's experiences and through the code was incredible and I am certainly better for it. These sort of experiences can rarely be had working at a startup.

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