4 ms·

"What are the reasons startups can't hire good finance people?" I think the reason is that you are in stage where the CEO personally empties the rubbish bins i

by dandare 11y ago

"What are the reasons startups can't hire good finance people?" I think the reason is that you are in stage where the CEO personally empties the rubbish bins in the office, that's why.

dllthomas 11y ago
Offloading finance should arguably come before offloading janitorial. You can be thinking about other things while emptying rubbish bins.
- dandare 11y ago
  I certainly agree - my metaphor was about how little money startups have for hiring professionals in general.
- logicallee 11y ago
  you're a company. you're built to make something and grow it. outsourcing financials (I don't mean getting help with them, but actually offloading them) is in some ways like outsourcing development. the "CEO" personally does finances for the same reason the "CTO" personally codes. If either of them can't do something they learn it. Sam is saying: learn these words.
  - dllthomas 11y ago
    I do want to make a distinction between "offloading" and "outsourcing". That said, you may very well be correct. My point was simply that, if it's a good idea, it's mostly not for the same reason that has the CEO emptying waste baskets.
ska 11y ago
They can, and do if they are being sensible. One of your fairly early hires should be a real finance person (not an executive but someone experienced enough to take over the day to day effectively). Not doing this is false economy. Well before that point, you should have a contract accountant of course.
dboreham 11y ago
Um. I've emptied the trash cans at my company, but we still had an accountant (external). And lawyers.
- pen2l 11y ago
  Why didn't you hire people to empty the trash? Would save your time, and another soul out there who is struggling to find a job get something. Personally, I love the fella who empties our trash. He's become a close friend of ours, with his heavily accented "Hello friend!" message he greets us all with and everything!
  - saryant 11y ago
    It's damn hard to get in legal trouble for being your own janitor. The same is not true of accounting or law.
  - dboreham 11y ago
    Hiring anyone to do anything carries a (quite significant) cost both financially (not their hourly wages -- all the other fixed costs) and in management time, and in the cost of added risk (perhaps they steal employees' stuff, set the place on fire...). In that case it wasn't worth all those costs vs just emptying the @&^#& trash myself, which took all of 5 minutes at the end of each work day with the added bonus of giving me some brain-idle time to wind down. The accountant and lawyer examples have the opposite characteristics : lots of risk from not hiring someone competent and experienced.

by dandare 11y ago

"What are the reasons startups can't hire good finance people?" I think the reason is that you are in stage where the CEO personally empties the rubbish bins in the office, that's why.

dllthomas 11y ago

Offloading finance should arguably come before offloading janitorial. You can be thinking about other things while emptying rubbish bins.

dandare 11y ago
I certainly agree - my metaphor was about how little money startups have for hiring professionals in general.
logicallee 11y ago
you're a company. you're built to make something and grow it. outsourcing financials (I don't mean getting help with them, but actually offloading them) is in some ways like outsourcing development. the "CEO" personally does finances for the same reason the "CTO" personally codes. If either of them can't do something they learn it. Sam is saying: learn these words.
- dllthomas 11y ago
  I do want to make a distinction between "offloading" and "outsourcing". That said, you may very well be correct. My point was simply that, if it's a good idea, it's mostly not for the same reason that has the CEO emptying waste baskets.

ska 11y ago

They can, and do if they are being sensible. One of your fairly early hires should be a real finance person (not an executive but someone experienced enough to take over the day to day effectively). Not doing this is false economy. Well before that point, you should have a contract accountant of course.

dboreham 11y ago

Um. I've emptied the trash cans at my company, but we still had an accountant (external). And lawyers.

pen2l 11y ago
Why didn't you hire people to empty the trash? Would save your time, and another soul out there who is struggling to find a job get something. Personally, I love the fella who empties our trash. He's become a close friend of ours, with his heavily accented "Hello friend!" message he greets us all with and everything!
- saryant 11y ago
  It's damn hard to get in legal trouble for being your own janitor. The same is not true of accounting or law.
- dboreham 11y ago
  Hiring anyone to do anything carries a (quite significant) cost both financially (not their hourly wages -- all the other fixed costs) and in management time, and in the cost of added risk (perhaps they steal employees' stuff, set the place on fire...). In that case it wasn't worth all those costs vs just emptying the @&^#& trash myself, which took all of 5 minutes at the end of each work day with the added bonus of giving me some brain-idle time to wind down. The accountant and lawyer examples have the opposite characteristics : lots of risk from not hiring someone competent and experienced.