Leaving Stripe • Hacker News Board

Re: Leaving Stripe

#21

Post by gdb » Wed, May 06, 2015, 6:34 PM UTC

shubhamjain wrote: post #10

The general advice is - "Don't force it! It won't get you anywhere." However, I feel, smart ambitious people, can't avoid the anxiety to do their own thing. Leaving a high-paying job on a vital position might not make a lot of sense but I believe, when you are surrounded by people making multi-million dollar enterprises with almost-similar skill-set (maybe, with a better business sense), you can't avoid that feel of…

Starting a company because "everyone else is doing it" sounds like a bad idea. For me, it's been something I've wanted to do since my first side project got 1500 uniques via StumbleUpon, and suddenly I realized how much fun it is creating something new that has real users.

Re: Leaving Stripe

#22

Post by foobarqux » Wed, May 06, 2015, 6:34 PM UTC

troels wrote: post #17

foobarqux wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's a pretty pedantic distinction in Greg's case and not germane to the point.

I feel that either you misunderstood me or I misunderstand you. I'm leaning towards the first option. By which I mean - There's a distinction between the kind of interview that happens between a founder and an investor and the one that happens between an employee and an employer. I wouldn't be surprised if an investor asked that kind of question, but if an employer did, I would think it was rather arrogant.

They ask it of founders. I thought you meant the point was irrelevant because Greg Brockman wasn't there at the very beginning.

Re: Leaving Stripe

#23

Post by boomzilla » Wed, May 06, 2015, 6:35 PM UTC

foobarqux wrote: post #13

Thaxll wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's a stupid question, you never ask someone his plans for the next 10 years.

YC and Sam Altman do.

Doh, that's ironic. Did Sam apply to YC too? Did he answer: "I plan to flip this company in a year or so and become one of you"?

Re: Leaving Stripe

#24

Post by smeyer » Wed, May 06, 2015, 6:36 PM UTC

shubhamjain wrote: post #10

The general advice is - "Don't force it! It won't get you anywhere." However, I feel, smart ambitious people, can't avoid the anxiety to do their own thing. Leaving a high-paying job on a vital position might not make a lot of sense but I believe, when you are surrounded by people making multi-million dollar enterprises with almost-similar skill-set (maybe, with a better business sense), you can't avoid that feel of…

I don't think that looking at people making "multi-million dollar enterprises" is necessarily going to cause much envy or anything. Brockman presumably has equity worth quite a lot and was key to the level of success Stripe has seen so far.

Re: Leaving Stripe

#25

Post by exelius » Wed, May 06, 2015, 6:42 PM UTC

shubhamjain wrote: post #10

The general advice is - "Don't force it! It won't get you anywhere." However, I feel, smart ambitious people, can't avoid the anxiety to do their own thing. Leaving a high-paying job on a vital position might not make a lot of sense but I believe, when you are surrounded by people making multi-million dollar enterprises with almost-similar skill-set (maybe, with a better business sense), you can't avoid that feel of…

Well, building a billion dollar business requires a different skill set than running a billion dollar business. Often when a business is in transition from "explosive growth" to "organic growth", the guys who got you there are no longer the right fit.

If you're financially secure, why force it to stay in a position you don't enjoy? Besides, having a C-level title from a successful startup makes it a whole lot easier to get funding for the next thing you want to build...

Re: Leaving Stripe

#26

Post by afarrell » Wed, May 06, 2015, 6:57 PM UTC

Congrats Greg!

I still owe you a 50lb bag of rice!

Re: Leaving Stripe

#27

Post by wenbin » Wed, May 06, 2015, 6:59 PM UTC

gdb wrote: post #21

shubhamjain wrote: post #10

The general advice is - "Don't force it! It won't get you anywhere." However, I feel, smart ambitious people, can't avoid the anxiety to do their own thing. Leaving a high-paying job on a vital position might not make a lot of sense but I believe, when you are surrounded by people making multi-million dollar enterprises with almost-similar skill-set (maybe, with a better business sense), you can't avoid that feel of…

Starting a company because "everyone else is doing it" sounds like a bad idea. For me, it's been something I've wanted to do since my first side project got 1500 uniques via StumbleUpon, and suddenly I realized how much fun it is creating something new that has real users.

Same feeling when seeing side projects that went to front page of hacker news :)

Re: Leaving Stripe

#28

Post by sama » Wed, May 06, 2015, 7:07 PM UTC

boomzilla wrote: post #23

foobarqux wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

YC and Sam Altman do.

Doh, that's ironic. Did Sam apply to YC too? Did he answer: "I plan to flip this company in a year or so and become one of you"?

I did apply to and do YC, and then I ran that company for 7 years. Had it been going better I would have been happy to run it for 3 more!

Re: Leaving Stripe

#29

Post by sama » Wed, May 06, 2015, 7:12 PM UTC

foobarqux wrote: post #3

What does it say about the question "Why do you want to work on this company for the next 10 years of your life?" when it turns out even the founders of the most successful startups in the world don't want to?

Greg isn't a founder of stripe.

Larry and Sergey have been working on Google for 17 years. Mark has been working on Facebook for 11. Drew and Arash have now been working on Dropbox for 8 years. Brian, Nate, and Joe have been working on Airbnb for 7 years.

Things change, of course, and you shouldn't work on a company that isn't working for 10 years. But I think it's a reasonable question to ask.

If you go into something with a plan to do it for only a couple of years, you are unlikely to create anything important.

I don't buy public or private equities I don't want to hold for 10 years (I have held some Apple shares 17 years now!), and I don't do jobs I can't see myself doing for 10 years (I ran my company, which was an ok but certainly not huge success, for 7+ years).

I think more people would benefit from taking a long-term view on where they decide to spend their time and money--it's a really useful way to think about opportunity.

Re: Leaving Stripe

#30

Post by rezistik » Wed, May 06, 2015, 7:26 PM UTC

sama wrote: post #29

foobarqux wrote: post #3

What does it say about the question "Why do you want to work on this company for the next 10 years of your life?" when it turns out even the founders of the most successful startups in the world don't want to?

Greg isn't a founder of stripe. Larry and Sergey have been working on Google for 17 years. Mark has been working on Facebook for 11. Drew and Arash have now been working on Dropbox for 8 years. Brian, Nate, and Joe have been working on Airbnb for 7 years. Things change, of course, and you shouldn't work on a company that isn't working for 10 years. But I think it's a reasonable question to ask. If you go into somethi…

Personally I think founders should plan to do it for at least 5 or 10 years.

If a founder doesn't think a company will be worth running in 5 or 10 years what does it say about their long term plans for it? Are there many examples of successful start-ups where the founders left within the first few years?