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Engineer #2 at Mint.com on when to join a startup

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Re: Engineer #2 at Mint.com on when to join a startup

#11

Post by fizx »

ghshephard wrote: post #10
fizx wrote: post #5

I'd only recommend doing that once, however. After that you're better off being a founder if you like the risk, or a later employee if you don't. Being a very early employee means you get paid in knowledge and seniority, instead of equity or salary. You hit diminishing returns when you do it again. Signed, a guy who has been employee #1 at three startups. ymmv, etc.

Well, as one who has been sub employee #10 at two startups that managed to make it to 500 employees, (One of which sold for $1.6B, fingers crossed on #2 going out for north of $1B), I'd suggest that there is a certain class of employee who can act in a supporting role, but isn't necessarily going to create the product. Salary/Equity are usually pretty good in VC funded startups (As opposed to Self Funded/Angel Funded…

If you can pick startups that well, I suggest a career in venture capital as an alternative to (presumably) engineering. :)

Re: Engineer #2 at Mint.com on when to join a startup

#12

Post by old-gregg »

starkfist wrote: post #7
kpdvx wrote: post #6

Best part of the article is in the comments: “'I quit my Masters at Stanford because I knew I’d learn a ton more working on the ground floor of a startup than I would sitting in a classroom.' I don’t recall a lot of sitting in class on your part."

That was funny. I wonder if she's right about what you learn at a Stanford master's program. I don't feel like I got a great undergraduate education and sometimes daydream that I could learn it all properly if I got into a good master's program like Stanford. I've been doing web startups since undergrad. The stuff you learn at a startup is wildly different from what you learn in school. A lot of the stuff I've learne…

I've been at 3 startups and if you want to _learn_, you better get a job at an established tech company with a solid R&D. Startups are too focused on "ship early&often" which doesn't leave any room for R&D. An average startup will teach the fastest possible assembly of open-sourced blocks together for yet another "big" sales call or a VC presentation. If only I had a dollar for every time I've heard "how many weeks do we need to build this?" There is a limited set of things you can build in 2-3 weeks which is worth learning.

Re: Engineer #2 at Mint.com on when to join a startup

#13

Post by pgbovine »

sil3ntmac wrote: post #9
kpdvx wrote: post #6

Best part of the article is in the comments: “'I quit my Masters at Stanford because I knew I’d learn a ton more working on the ground floor of a startup than I would sitting in a classroom.' I don’t recall a lot of sitting in class on your part."

Heh, the commenter was her old Stanford professor, and the link he provided to his website goes to a PDF of his CS249 final exam. Harsh :P

wow, and he's not just a random dude, either ... he has a long and illustrious history with silicon valley start-ups:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cheriton

EDIT: notable line from wikipedia article: "Cheriton is also credited for connecting Stanford students Sergey Brin and Larry Page with venture capitalists at Kleiner Perkins, thus becoming one of the early investors that helped get Google off the ground."

Re: Engineer #2 at Mint.com on when to join a startup

#14

Post by breck »

fizx wrote: post #5

I'd only recommend doing that once, however. After that you're better off being a founder if you like the risk, or a later employee if you don't. Being a very early employee means you get paid in knowledge and seniority, instead of equity or salary. You hit diminishing returns when you do it again. Signed, a guy who has been employee #1 at three startups. ymmv, etc.

ymmv = your mileage may vary

first time i've seen that one.

Re: Engineer #2 at Mint.com on when to join a startup

#16

Post by starkfist »

old-gregg wrote: post #12
starkfist wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was funny. I wonder if she's right about what you learn at a Stanford master's program. I don't feel like I got a great undergraduate education and sometimes daydream that I could learn it all properly if I got into a good master's program like Stanford. I've been doing web startups since undergrad. The stuff you learn at a startup is wildly different from what you learn in school. A lot of the stuff I've learne…

I've been at 3 startups and if you want to _learn_, you better get a job at an established tech company with a solid R&D. Startups are too focused on "ship early&often" which doesn't leave any room for R&D. An average startup will teach the fastest possible assembly of open-sourced blocks together for yet another "big" sales call or a VC presentation. If only I had a dollar for every time I've heard "how many weeks d…

Yeah, I've been employee < 10 at 3 startups, too. I know exactly what you learn at startups. :)

Re: Engineer #2 at Mint.com on when to join a startup

#17

Post by starkfist »

breck wrote: post #14
fizx wrote: post #5

I'd only recommend doing that once, however. After that you're better off being a founder if you like the risk, or a later employee if you don't. Being a very early employee means you get paid in knowledge and seniority, instead of equity or salary. You hit diminishing returns when you do it again. Signed, a guy who has been employee #1 at three startups. ymmv, etc.

ymmv = your mileage may vary first time i've seen that one.

It's ancient. Maybe by now it's retro and making a comeback.

Re: Engineer #2 at Mint.com on when to join a startup

#18

Post by sireat »

pgbovine wrote: post #13
sil3ntmac wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heh, the commenter was her old Stanford professor, and the link he provided to his website goes to a PDF of his CS249 final exam. Harsh :P

wow, and he's not just a random dude, either ... he has a long and illustrious history with silicon valley start-ups: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cheriton EDIT: notable line from wikipedia article: "Cheriton is also credited for connecting Stanford students Sergey Brin and Larry Page with venture capitalists at Kleiner Perkins, thus becoming one of the early investors that helped get Google off the ground."

Going off topic now, but nice to see that someone who doesn't have to, still teaches.

From wikipedia: "University of Waterloo announced that Cheriton had donated $25 million to support graduate studies and research", "Cheriton donated $2 million to the University of British Columbia".

Re: Engineer #2 at Mint.com on when to join a startup

#20

Post by mahmud »

sireat wrote: post #18
pgbovine wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

wow, and he's not just a random dude, either ... he has a long and illustrious history with silicon valley start-ups: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cheriton EDIT: notable line from wikipedia article: "Cheriton is also credited for connecting Stanford students Sergey Brin and Larry Page with venture capitalists at Kleiner Perkins, thus becoming one of the early investors that helped get Google off the ground."

Going off topic now, but nice to see that someone who doesn't have to, still teaches. From wikipedia: "University of Waterloo announced that Cheriton had donated $25 million to support graduate studies and research", "Cheriton donated $2 million to the University of British Columbia".

Sergey Brin's dad is still a teacher :-)
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