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The Startup Life Is Not For Everyone

alexstechthoughts.com

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Re: The Startup Life Is Not For Everyone

#51

Post by shortlived »

emilyst wrote: post #31
acjohnson55 wrote: post #17

"One thing that is not spoken about in the early-stage tech world is how many startup founders come from money or stability. I’m by no means saying this applies to all founders or early-stage startup employees. But if you dig a little, you will see the “risk” that some of these people are taking is not as risky as they may seem." This is really true. The business risk may be very real, but the personal risk for many…

Right. If I worked for a startup that went south, I'd be homeless.

There are a lot of people who take for granted that they have a family/town to return to if things go really bad. I've got that safety net and appreciate it very much. My wife (before she met me) did not. It's taught me a lot and makes me cringe when people start talking about "risking it all".

Re: The Startup Life Is Not For Everyone

#52

Post by nsxwolf »

This is oversensitivity. No one has ever tried to force the startup life on me and if someone tried to shame me into it I would laugh in their face.

Now, if this were an article about established companies treating their employees like they were in a startup, you'd have something there.

Re: The Startup Life Is Not For Everyone

#53

Post by speeder »

acjohnson55 wrote: post #17

"One thing that is not spoken about in the early-stage tech world is how many startup founders come from money or stability. I’m by no means saying this applies to all founders or early-stage startup employees. But if you dig a little, you will see the “risk” that some of these people are taking is not as risky as they may seem." This is really true. The business risk may be very real, but the personal risk for many…

That might explain why people act bizarre toward me when I say that I cannot risk moving now, or that I cannot buy x, or y, or cannot do z, because my life is too instable...

I have lots of debts, and the job market for programmers here in Brazil suck (ie: most job offers I had paid less than what I pay in my loans), if my startup crashes and burns, I will crash and burn too, I have no plan B, or C... it is just, it MUST work, otherwise I am screwed.

People do not understand that, and think I am nuts.

Re: The Startup Life Is Not For Everyone

#54

Post by ubernostrum »

jasonkester wrote: post #45
gregd wrote: post #35

As a 46 year old, white male with almost 20 years of IT experience, what I hear a lot of these startups saying is, "We don't really give a shit about you, your life or your time. We want to suck out a decades worth of input in 2-3 years and when you burn out, fuck you. Don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out." Who wants to live like that? These expectations will continue to gradually get WORSE...if you c…

You see that as a downside. I see it as an upside. I'm in the same place as you (42/20), and I've always loved working for startups. Just make sure they're paying you by the hour (contracts are best) and let them suck as much of your experience out as they need. And be sure to charge accordingly, since the thing you're selling isn't your butt in a seat, but the 20 years of accumulated knowledge and that giant \code\…

Or you could, you know, do what the headline says: don't try to force a style of work that you like onto everyone.

Just as other people may not share your taste in food or music, they may also not share your taste in work environments or patterns. And they are not wrong to have different tastes than you do.

Re: The Startup Life Is Not For Everyone

#55

Post by JonFish85 »

rfnslyr wrote: post #40
acjohnson55 wrote: post #17

"One thing that is not spoken about in the early-stage tech world is how many startup founders come from money or stability. I’m by no means saying this applies to all founders or early-stage startup employees. But if you dig a little, you will see the “risk” that some of these people are taking is not as risky as they may seem." This is really true. The business risk may be very real, but the personal risk for many…

Life is infinitely easier when you know, at the end of the day, no matter how bad you fuck up you still have your parents to fall back on versus if you fuck up, you're on the street. It adds a whole new layer of privilege.

While that's true, I do wonder if there's a certain level of hunger that you get if you don't have your parents' wealth to fall back on, or a trust fund or whatever. Gonna make a "Dark Knight Rises" reference here, buckle up. During the escape scene from the prison-pit, Bruce Wayne only makes the jump once he takes off the rope and uses the fear of death to drive him. I wonder if that can be a motivator for some people.

Re: The Startup Life Is Not For Everyone

#56

Post by ianstallings »

I just did three startups, all back to back, in NYC. I needed a break and less risk in my life. I got a sudden mid-life urge to settle down so I moved to the suburbs and I now have an easy, well paying, enterprise job. No teams to manage, no insane schedules, no Sunday morning phone calls, no 80 hour weeks, no more high blood pressure or anxiety attacks. No equity either, but I'll sacrifice that now for my non-startup job. Just a 40 hour work week and great salary/benefits. I won't get rich. But I'm okay with that at this moment. I do want to start a business in the future, but it will be a lifestyle business where I can set my own hours and pick my projects.

Re: The Startup Life Is Not For Everyone

#57

Post by mindcrime »

jacquesm wrote: post #13
jasonkester wrote: post #10

The cool thing about starting your own business is that you can build it however you like. You can work 80 hour weeks or 10 hour weeks. Your choice. You can neglect your friends, family and health, and work yourself into the ground. Or not. Again, entirely up to you. Surprisingly, the end result will probably be roughly the same. If you're good at building software, and work in bursts like most of us do, then a few g…

The freedom is indeed one of the biggest draws but I've found that with any degree of success there is also an automatic reduction in freedom because your responsibilities go up. Hard to balance that.

The freedom is indeed one of the biggest draws but I've found that with any degree of success there is also an automatic reduction in freedom because your responsibilities go up. Hard to balance that.

That is SO true. Just to illustrate in a bit more depth... as a developer / founder, here are some things I have to do as a founder that I never had to do as a developer:

1. do market research. Browse US census data, find SIC/NAIC codes, look up demographic information on businesses that we want to target.

2. Scour LinkedIn, Hoovers, etc. for contacts at companies we want to sell to.

3. Compile lists of contacts, cold email / cold call those contacts and try to get meetings.

4. Read sales books, try to develop a sales process for our company.

5. Go out and meet customers, try to identify their problems, then either sell them something and/or plug that feedback back into our product roadmap.

6. Go take sales training.

7. Read marketing books and blogs and articles, put together a marketing plan.

8. Write content specific to out "content marketing" strategy, post on our website, blog, etc.

9. recruit co-founder(s), intern(s), etc.

10. Go to startup related events to get to know the local VCs and angels, just in case we decide to raise a round of funding at some point.

11. Recruit members to our advisory board. Meet advisors, take their advice and figure out how to try and incorporate it

12. Write marketing collateral, white-papers, brochures, etc.

13. Write press releases

14. Distribute press releases.

15. Monitor press to see if we get any mentions. Follow up on those as appropriate.

16. Join industry associations relevant to our target market, attend those meetings to try and meet potential customers, partners, etc.

17. Scour for potential partners, investors, customers, etc.

18. Develop pricing model(s), deal with financial projections.

19. Manage corporate paperwork: File to incorporate, file periodic updates with the secretary of state, tax returns, etc.

20. Manage the product roadmap. Research potential new features and technologies, and prioritize that stuff.

21. Go to "leads group" meetings to exchange leads

22. Go to general networking events (Chamber of Commerce events, etc.) to network and seek customer leads, etc.

23. Respond to inbound leads that come in as a result of our marketing efforts.

And all of that is on top of actually writing code and building the product. So yeah, while being a founder can lead to more freedom in some regards, there is definitely a tradeoff in terms of added responsibility. And once you have co-founder(s) or other people on your team, you feel more pressure because their futures are at stake as well.

Re: The Startup Life Is Not For Everyone

#58

Post by pelemele »

jasonkester wrote: post #45
gregd wrote: post #35

As a 46 year old, white male with almost 20 years of IT experience, what I hear a lot of these startups saying is, "We don't really give a shit about you, your life or your time. We want to suck out a decades worth of input in 2-3 years and when you burn out, fuck you. Don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out." Who wants to live like that? These expectations will continue to gradually get WORSE...if you c…

You see that as a downside. I see it as an upside. I'm in the same place as you (42/20), and I've always loved working for startups. Just make sure they're paying you by the hour (contracts are best) and let them suck as much of your experience out as they need. And be sure to charge accordingly, since the thing you're selling isn't your butt in a seat, but the 20 years of accumulated knowledge and that giant \code\…

This. Like it!

Re: The Startup Life Is Not For Everyone

#59

Post by slantyyz »

jasonkester wrote: post #45
gregd wrote: post #35

As a 46 year old, white male with almost 20 years of IT experience, what I hear a lot of these startups saying is, "We don't really give a shit about you, your life or your time. We want to suck out a decades worth of input in 2-3 years and when you burn out, fuck you. Don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out." Who wants to live like that? These expectations will continue to gradually get WORSE...if you c…

You see that as a downside. I see it as an upside. I'm in the same place as you (42/20), and I've always loved working for startups. Just make sure they're paying you by the hour (contracts are best) and let them suck as much of your experience out as they need. And be sure to charge accordingly, since the thing you're selling isn't your butt in a seat, but the 20 years of accumulated knowledge and that giant \code\…

I have a slightly different view (43/20).

I like to work for small companies that have a bit of startup thinking (let's get things done, build cool stuff and be open minded about fresh and contrarian ideas) but that are run by people who have a more balanced view of how much time their employees should work.

At my stage in life (speaking only for myself), I don't buy into those BS sales jobs from hiring managers of getting rich on options, working until you're burnt out because you're changing the world, etc.

Re: The Startup Life Is Not For Everyone

#60

Post by slantyyz »

anExcitedBeast wrote: post #38
paulrademacher wrote: post #34

What's all this gunk about "startups aren't for everyone, they're HARD WORK"?? A big-company job is hard work too, if you're a driven person.

It's not about hard work, it's about how much of who you are must be devoted to the career. I work very hard at a 400 person company. but I get to go home after about 42-48 hours a week and enjoy being me. That involves chess, guitar, politics, and billiards. Founders and ground floor engineers ARE the business, the code, and the company.

This is important. I'll also bet you get some of your best work ideas during your downtime too.
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