61–67 of 67 posts
A lot of pointy-hair bosses, especially in Asia (I am now working in China) assume longer working hours = higher productivity. In other words, they are having the 'factory mindset' whereby an hour not working is equal to an hour of productivity loss. However this assumption won't work for R&D, especially anything related to software.
> What is true is that for a VC's business model to work, it's necessary for you to give up your life in order for him to become richer.
Let's get a movement going here.
> A 40 hour week is a good rule. I suspect that a 36 hour week is a better rule. By saying "36 hour week" instead of "35-hour week is better", you're showing a bias that better working hours means working less days or taking longer weekends (i.e. 9 days every two weeks), rather than less hours per day (i.e. 7 hours a day). Certain types of people (including you I guess) would prefer the extra day as reward, other typ…
> A 40 hour week is a good rule. I suspect that a 36 hour week is a better rule. By saying "36 hour week" instead of "35-hour week is better", you're showing a bias that better working hours means working less days or taking longer weekends (i.e. 9 days every two weeks), rather than less hours per day (i.e. 7 hours a day). Certain types of people (including you I guess) would prefer the extra day as reward, other typ…
In the Netherlands, where a 36 hour work-week is pretty standard, it usually means 4.5 days, so one day you work half and go home earlier. Another common scheme is to alternate 4x8 and 5x8 work weeks. But I suppose most bosses would not mind if you want to keep an even different schedule as long as it adds up and doesn't inconvenience the rest of the team.
but they all say they offer excellent compensation
Every YC job ad is basically the same as every other. It's a BS con-job, just "come work for us, and you'll get rich" scheme that simply isn't true.
These VC funded companies will promise you the world, work you to the bone, and then dilute your equity to nearly 0 percent, and you will be left with nothing with the pride of being used to make other people rich. Avoid every job ad that sounds remotely like dclapp describes.
Doug I know I'm just a silly fanboy -- but I'd be curious about what else you got to see at apple during that era, and any other insights you have on startups...
Hi Michael. I think that Apple in those days is a field that is well-plowed. folklore.org is a particularly fun site. Start-ups? Business is business. it can be as high-stress or as peaceful as you decide to make it. Software development, these days, is often dysfunction practiced as an artform. :-) Give SCRUM a shake, and waterfall drops to the floor, quivering in embarrassment. Add your examples here. My best devel…
I like this bit. Very good advice, no doubt. But what about "no pain, no gain"? Or, conversely, if it doesn't hurt somehow, you can be pretty sure you're not making any progress. It applies to intellectual pursuits like software development as well as high-achievement sports. You don't have to extend the thought very far to come to a similar conclusion, that you're not going to solve hard problems without a bit of suffering. Similarly I don't think Hertzfeld and co. built the Mac by working 35 hour weeks.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm interested in that too, but I guess it depends on the type of company probably and the type of sales? I know some commission driven sales in a services companies definitely killing people rapidly by selling insane amounts of work and then throwing it over the fence. You need a very strong account/pm to counteract this if you want to not die and keep clients happy at the same time. For products I have seen sales g…
Well, you just have to say no. if your business works for clients, the clients will always kill you if you let them. insane demands, low ball bids, etc. this is as old as capitalism, and particularly found in advertising agencies... and printing companies. I am sure you can add examples. If you want to run your business like a third world country, you obviously can.