4 ms·

Number 1 rule of working at a startup: really trust the founders and everyone you work with. Look out for yourself, but at the end of the day, if you are workin

Number 1 rule of working at a startup: really trust the founders and everyone you work with. Look out for yourself, but at the end of the day, if you are working with someone scummy, they can change the rules at basically any time. So work with people committed to transparency and honest dealing. Also, while it is nice to think of your particular startup succeeding, it probably won't. And even if it "does" it will likely not be worth >$1b. One of my proudest moments was hearing from one of my early employees that even if the company tanked tomorrow that she would not regret it for a moment. I hope that for every person I work with, because while I cannot guarantee that the world won't collapse or something unforeseen to happen, I can work really hard to make sure that as we grow and succeed, our culture is one of making sure that everyone is learning and growing and going to excel in their careers and lives no matter what happens to this company. Side note: I am also committed to making sure that people here are compensated well when we succeed, if for some reason our initial compensation structure, which I think has been generous, has holes.

k__ 11y ago
So true. I didn't start working for a startup because of equity. I started working for one, because it lets me work remote and I learn new things. Even if the company goes down, I still have >1 year remote work experience...
hitekker 11y ago
> One of my proudest moments was hearing from one of my early employees that even if the company tanked tomorrow that she would not regret it for a moment. This as noble as you can get in business: truly something to be proud of.
tedmiston 11y ago
> Also, while it is nice to think of your particular startup succeeding, it probably won't. And even if it "does" it will likely not be worth >$1b. And even if it does succeed, and even if it does achieve a high valuation, you might not necessarily have a life-changing event. I know it's buzzword-y to talk about liquidation preferences right now, but there are plenty of way investors and founders can benefit from an acquisition that don't trickle down to even early employees.
- gjmulhol 11y ago
  Rule of thumb from someone who has been through it (not me): Employees 1-20: "never have to work again money" 20-200 (or so): "buy some nice stuff, live a great life, still have to work" >200: nice payday, buy a house, car, something, get back to work And this is at a, now public, company where the founder had and has tons of control so got good terms for employees.
a-priori 11y ago
Earlier this year I was was laid off from a startup that went bust. We failed to find a market that could support us, and the investors lost confidence and pulled the plug. It was the prototypical startup failure story. Here's the thing: if the founders came to me tomorrow and said "I'm starting a new company and I need developers", I'd probably join them. Why? Because throughout the whole thing they acted absolutely properly. They kept us in the loop about the company's situation as it deteriorated and did everything they could to salvage the company and pivot into something new. And we trusted them enough that almost the entire staff stayed on until the end even though we were almost certain for a few months that the company was probably not going to survive. When the investors declined to reinvest, the founders shut the doors with enough money left in the bank to pay a modest severance and keep a skeleton staff on for a few months to wind down the company and service customers during their notice period. Some colleagues have told me stories of places they've worked where they didn't find out the company was broke until their paycheques started bouncing, the landlord started stopping into the office asking for the executives, and those executives were nowhere to be found.
- muddyrivers 11y ago
  Can't agree more. One start-up which I worked for a few years went bust. It was an experience that brought up very complicated feelings of proud, pain, excitement, upset, comradeship, disappointment, etc. Although it was painful to accept the outcome, it was not surprising, considering the odds of success. What I learned from the experience is: when you consider joining a startup, it doesn't matter what products they are building, what market they are pursuing, etc. What matters is the people you will work with. I learned a lot about how to read people during the up-and-down time, about what people you can trust, both their abilities and their personalities. If my ex-colleagues start new companies and ask me to join, I will jump in for some people as long as I can get enough cash to cover the living expenses of my family, and politely decline for some others.

k__ 11y ago

So true. I didn't start working for a startup because of equity. I started working for one, because it lets me work remote and I learn new things. Even if the company goes down, I still have >1 year remote work experience...

hitekker 11y ago

> One of my proudest moments was hearing from one of my early employees that even if the company tanked tomorrow that she would not regret it for a moment. This as noble as you can get in business: truly something to be proud of.

tedmiston 11y ago

> Also, while it is nice to think of your particular startup succeeding, it probably won't. And even if it "does" it will likely not be worth >$1b. And even if it does succeed, and even if it does achieve a high valuation, you might not necessarily have a life-changing event. I know it's buzzword-y to talk about liquidation preferences right now, but there are plenty of way investors and founders can benefit from an acquisition that don't trickle down to even early employees.

gjmulhol 11y ago
Rule of thumb from someone who has been through it (not me): Employees 1-20: "never have to work again money" 20-200 (or so): "buy some nice stuff, live a great life, still have to work" >200: nice payday, buy a house, car, something, get back to work And this is at a, now public, company where the founder had and has tons of control so got good terms for employees.

a-priori 11y ago

Earlier this year I was was laid off from a startup that went bust. We failed to find a market that could support us, and the investors lost confidence and pulled the plug. It was the prototypical startup failure story. Here's the thing: if the founders came to me tomorrow and said "I'm starting a new company and I need developers", I'd probably join them. Why? Because throughout the whole thing they acted absolutely properly. They kept us in the loop about the company's situation as it deteriorated and did everything they could to salvage the company and pivot into something new. And we trusted them enough that almost the entire staff stayed on until the end even though we were almost certain for a few months that the company was probably not going to survive. When the investors declined to reinvest, the founders shut the doors with enough money left in the bank to pay a modest severance and keep a skeleton staff on for a few months to wind down the company and service customers during their notice period. Some colleagues have told me stories of places they've worked where they didn't find out the company was broke until their paycheques started bouncing, the landlord started stopping into the office asking for the executives, and those executives were nowhere to be found.

muddyrivers 11y ago
Can't agree more. One start-up which I worked for a few years went bust. It was an experience that brought up very complicated feelings of proud, pain, excitement, upset, comradeship, disappointment, etc. Although it was painful to accept the outcome, it was not surprising, considering the odds of success. What I learned from the experience is: when you consider joining a startup, it doesn't matter what products they are building, what market they are pursuing, etc. What matters is the people you will work with. I learned a lot about how to read people during the up-and-down time, about what people you can trust, both their abilities and their personalities. If my ex-colleagues start new companies and ask me to join, I will jump in for some people as long as I can get enough cash to cover the living expenses of my family, and politely decline for some others.