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Founder to CEO: How to build a great company from the ground up

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Re: Founder to CEO: How to build a great company from the ground up

#191

Post by grosjona »

vinceguidry wrote: post #136
grosjona wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Employees want to work 5-10 years max and end up with millions to retire peacefully while working in an intense environment This sounds like either it is an extremely unrealistic expectation or it's extremely unfair. I know lots of smart people who worked for at least 10 years in very intense startup environments and got essentially nothing out of it. Often, they have to fallback on a life of contract work for hug…

It's the ideal the whole industry segment is founded on. Just like every other ideal, it's attainable only by the extremely lucky. Everybody else has to deal with the externalities. Strip the ideal away and people will leave in droves. Without a differentiator, startups are just like everything else.

One thing that I've learned though is that you should try to work for rich people who believe that we're in a meritocracy. When these people see talent, they tend to think that it's much more valuable than it actually is.

Re: Founder to CEO: How to build a great company from the ground up

#192

Post by kolpa »

sp332 wrote: post #181
taneq wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some good psychology in that. If you start with the most senior people, then the couple of people who are clearly officially leaders will talk and then everyone else thinks they're next in the pecking order and will trainwreck it. If the only way to talk is to admit that you're more junior than everyone else who hasn't spoken, then you won't stick your two bob in unless you actually have something important to say.

Or the most senior people will put an idea forward and all the juniors will spend their time kissing ass and saying what a great idea it is.

It's the seniors' job to seek out criticism and lead the way to criticizing their own ideas.

Re: Founder to CEO: How to build a great company from the ground up

#193

Post by slededit »

Nokinside wrote: post #93

Requiring proposals and updates written down is a good idea. If you allow people to bring up an issue or proposal that they have not already written up in the meeting, someone always comes up with idea on the spot, and tries argue it as something well thought. If they are clever people they can throw the whole meeting off. For the loudest voice in the room problem, speaking order that starts from the most junior and…

If you are just an employee and your company hasn't employed this you can do it on your own. Simply build a consensus by meeting people 1:1 before the meeting. When you do this you are no longer as dependent on your in-meeting performance.

Re: Founder to CEO: How to build a great company from the ground up

#194

Post by kolpa »

cncrnd wrote: post #85
john_moscow wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because in the current market you can get yourself a better lifestyle burning through VC cash than by trying to get that cash from the paying customers.

I thought the expectation was for VC funded CEOs to take low salaries. How often do they sell equity in fundraising rounds and/or take decent salaries (500k+)?

> decent salaries (500k+)?

Oh, HN.

Re: Founder to CEO: How to build a great company from the ground up

#195

Post by beambot »

slededit wrote: post #193
Nokinside wrote: post #93

Requiring proposals and updates written down is a good idea. If you allow people to bring up an issue or proposal that they have not already written up in the meeting, someone always comes up with idea on the spot, and tries argue it as something well thought. If they are clever people they can throw the whole meeting off. For the loudest voice in the room problem, speaking order that starts from the most junior and…

If you are just an employee and your company hasn't employed this you can do it on your own. Simply build a consensus by meeting people 1:1 before the meeting. When you do this you are no longer as dependent on your in-meeting performance.

So 10x 1:1s plus a discussion meeting plus a decision meeting... Sounds like a slippery slope to meeting hell.

Re: Founder to CEO: How to build a great company from the ground up

#196

Post by slededit »

beambot wrote: post #195
slededit wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are just an employee and your company hasn't employed this you can do it on your own. Simply build a consensus by meeting people 1:1 before the meeting. When you do this you are no longer as dependent on your in-meeting performance.

So 10x 1:1s plus a discussion meeting plus a decision meeting... Sounds like a slippery slope to meeting hell.

You can usually skip the discussion meeting if you do the 1:1s, and your design/plan will be much better as the discussion can be deeper in 1:1s. I've been a in a huge number of design reviews where a massive flaw is pointed out and the reply is "well we'd love to talk more about it but we won't get over everything if we do...", and the meeting continues discussing the details of a plan we just showed won't actually work. You are also playing with the human dynamics of not wanting to look bad in front of a lot of people. Large discussion meetings are usually a waste of time and result in sub par plans.

As an IC you play with the rules you've got.

Re: Founder to CEO: How to build a great company from the ground up

#197

Post by double0jimb0 »

kasnaka wrote: post #39
typeliftr wrote: post #24

I feel like there’s an ‘all or nothing’ attitude recently around starting a business which doesn’t make sense to me. Either you’re making millions and have 100 employees or nothing. I work in a company that has 5-10 employees, nobody is working their ass off and there’s steady income and gradual growth. Our CEO is not a millionaire, but he enjoys his work and the company he works for. There is no plans for fast growt…

I highly recommend reading https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/05/12/strategy-letter-i-... It describes two cases, where you need to grow fast and where you don't.

I’d be curious what Joel would say about that same article today, I suspect his understanding of the nature of competitive landscapes has evolved.

Re: Founder to CEO: How to build a great company from the ground up

#198

Post by gafferongames »

iamcasen wrote: post #174
jcbrand wrote: post #133

> Agenda > > Spouse > > Connect- listen to each other’s day for 5 minutes each I had to laugh at this. Setting aside only 5-10 minutes a day for your closest confidant and life-partner? Good luck with that marriage. One of the ironies for me of people who slave away with the hope of scoring the jackpot, is that they often justify it by telling themselves and others what they'll do once they're financially independent…

Yeah how ridiculous! Loved ones should honestly be our number 1 priority. That work is so demanding of the majority of our free time while we are alive is a travesty. Work used to have meaning when we would hunt, gather, or farm. You did that along side your friends and family. Now we isolate ourselves for 8 to 12 hours a day earning money to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. And for what? Is humanity…

So start a company, work hard, and break yourself out of this system.

Re: Founder to CEO: How to build a great company from the ground up

#200

Post by bhb916 »

ErikVandeWater wrote: post #115
shanghaiaway wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

American work culture, always trying to please the boss.

I'm fairly sure this is fairly universal. Even in socialist countries, your boss has enough power over you to do you harm.

Especially in socialist countries.
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