If you are unable to hire elsewhere the skill-set that your ex-colleague brings to the table, what happens to your startup in the short to medium term ? i.e would that set your MVP back by x months ? I would try to frame the question in those terms and balance it against the commitment/culture fit concerns.
Ask HN: First hire offered to work part-time – what should I do?
41–50 of 106 posts
Re: Ask HN: First hire offered to work part-time – what should I do?
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, "passion" is a huge red flag word for me. In the same realm as "ninja" or "rockstar."
What do you all call the feeling around enjoying the work you do because of the mission and/or technical challenge and/or team? Or, the feeling of wanting to do high quality work wherever you are? Generally, I've never worried about that being called passion.
You can call that passion, but you can't demand passion. Passion doesn't work that way. You can certainly foster this passion in your employees by giving them real buy-in, making their contributions matter, and having them benefit from the success of the project.
I'm passionate about the project I currently work for, but it's probably the first professional project ever (in 20 years) where I feel this way. And I feel this way because I was involved right from the very early start, I've got tons of context, and saw this develop from the very first prototype that I wrote to its current state. I did the job interviews for most of the rest of the team. I may only be a freelancer working for a major bank, but man do I feel a lot of ownership for this project. I love this project, but I notice not all of my team mates do. You clearly can't force or demand this kind of passion. Certainly not up-front.
I still work only 4 days a week, by the way.
Re: Ask HN: First hire offered to work part-time – what should I do?
#43I can offer a perspective from the developer's point of view:-
Great developers (like the one you mentioned) have significant opportunity costs.
Unrelated:- I am looking for opportunities in this space.
[Resume] https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mzQHjxMlAi_LOrQwccnQUskjzjr...
Re: Ask HN: First hire offered to work part-time – what should I do?
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, "passion" is a huge red flag word for me. In the same realm as "ninja" or "rockstar."
What do you all call the feeling around enjoying the work you do because of the mission and/or technical challenge and/or team? Or, the feeling of wanting to do high quality work wherever you are? Generally, I've never worried about that being called passion.
I have a passion for the work I do part time. It is because of the technical challenges though. I fill the non work time with other technical challenges most of the time.
I do not think passion and part time work are at odds at all.
Re: Ask HN: First hire offered to work part-time – what should I do?
#45I think it makes a lot of sense to pay extra attention that the first hires have a passion for the mission. Passion could be driven by just a great product but also good equity package (with some flexibility of selling equity before an exit, IMO important for early employees. Maybe your former colleague could get passionate about your company under such terms?
If not, but the person is fairly senior and has excellent skills, I'd still consider hiring them but make it clear that's a different role and not the pillar shaping the company but rather a person laying a good technical foundation. That way you can hire another person that is more committed to the company but could benefit from that technical foundation.
But otherwise, I'd pass.
I've been working at startups for 10+ years and while I understand the negative association with 'passion' and saw that as excuse for bad compensation as well, I'm gonna assume you're not just looking for cheap labor but truly people who can grow with the company and and benefit from it success. In that case it would be a shame to hire a person for which it's just another job. (There are plenty of jobs if that's what one is looking for.)
Re: Ask HN: First hire offered to work part-time – what should I do?
#46You are correct to think about the implications to your company culture. IMO it’s going to be tough to reconcile expecting the others to grind hard with him being part time. Also, I think you’re basically providing runway for his other venture. The bottom line is, what kind of company do you all want?
Edit: someone once told me: hire slowly, fire quickly.
Re: Ask HN: First hire offered to work part-time – what should I do?
#47Being someone who was there, it sounds like this person is looking to 'hedge' their risk. He's placing two bets - on his own project and yours.
If you're afraid of this affecting your culture, don't treat him as a full timer. Instead, treat him as a contractor, with the option of going full time if you do well.
This is IMO the only sweet spot for contractors, when someone is brilliant but outside your budget. I'm not a fan of part-timers, but 3 days is a good commitment, as opposed to someone who only works nights. Depending on the type of person, a developer might even end up achieving as much in 3 days as they would in 5 days.
Re: Ask HN: First hire offered to work part-time – what should I do?
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, "passion" is a huge red flag word for me. In the same realm as "ninja" or "rockstar."
What do you all call the feeling around enjoying the work you do because of the mission and/or technical challenge and/or team? Or, the feeling of wanting to do high quality work wherever you are? Generally, I've never worried about that being called passion.
Passion is good, but it should never be used to overwork or underpay people. Never shit on someone else for having a good work/life balance and accuse them of not being passionate or whatever. That's a toxic work culture and honestly, given how much money is going around in software development, it shouldn't be necessary.
Pay people if you need them to work overtime. In hard cash, not vague promises. And if you've burned through your VC money already, don't try and push through on debts; cut your losses, give your employees plenty of heads-up, and pay them before your money runs out.
I mean if you don't want to hire them part-time, someone else will.
Re: Ask HN: First hire offered to work part-time – what should I do?
#49You cannot require potential employees to be passionate about your company.
It is your responsibility to make them passionate about your company. (If at all possible.)
Re: Ask HN: First hire offered to work part-time – what should I do?
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
What do you all call the feeling around enjoying the work you do because of the mission and/or technical challenge and/or team? Or, the feeling of wanting to do high quality work wherever you are? Generally, I've never worried about that being called passion.
> Or, the feeling of wanting to do high quality work wherever you are? We have a word that literally translates as "professional pride." Now I'm not sure it has the right vibe in English, but it captures the idea that you do high quality work and you wouldn't do a sloppy job, even if the job sucks. For example, I would like such a plumber, because I know they will be careful not to make a mess, and they will clean up…
> We have a word that literally translates as "professional pride."
Where are you from and what is the word?