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Not even sure where to start on this comment, but I'll try: > In a startup, the whole endeavor rides on secrets. ... In a large company, execution dominates.

Not even sure where to start on this comment, but I'll try: > In a startup, the whole endeavor rides on secrets. ... In a large company, execution dominates. Have you ever worked for a startup? Most likely at least 10 other companies have had the same idea. And 100 people outside those companies. Your ability to (out) execute is all that matters -- regardless of the size company. See also: talk is cheap. And yes, there are trade secrets that can be hugely important, but these are handled by NDAs and other Confidential Information agreements, not non-competes. If those are stolen, you sue under those agreements, not your non-compete. > If that person went to work for another marketing analytics company, I wouldn't be too happy, because to some extent, our specific mix of APIs to integrate with and what we got from them is proprietary. ... If an engineer I'd worked with and developed that knowledge with went to somebody trying to solve the same problem as me, I'd be kind of pissed. Then you should give them a reason (ideally, several) to stay. Your employment agreement trades some form of compensation -- typically cash and equity -- for their output. You're getting value, they're getting value. If you don't treat them properly, you don't deserve to keep them, regardless if you "wouldn't be too happy" about it.

trjordan 11y ago
I have. Last company I was the first the join, was acquired by a bigger startup, and left at 120 employees. I'm currently starting my own company. Maybe idea is the wrong word. Vision? Strategic plan? Narrowly-focused execution with an emphasis on coherence? Facebook and MySpace are the same idea, but vastly different companies, no matter when you compared them. Communicating all the things you do differently isn't something that you can do with a website or a quick chat with a single employee. That structure of shared ideas is important, and in small companies, it's basically all that exists. Comparatively, the code and customer base replaceable. And anybody can leave, at any time, in the same way that I'm allowed to fire anybody or sell the company with a provision to devalue the equity. There's a million ways for us all to screw each other. There needs to be trust in the company, because if you're just after short term cash, there's way better ways to find it than startups.
- prdonahue 11y ago
  If all you have are (shared) ideas, you have nothing. Think about it this way: even if you took everything you've planned to do with your NewCo and published it for the world to see, and then encouraged people to copy your plan, you'd have a hell of a hard time convincing anyone to do so. It's also one snapshot in time, for something that evolves rapidly -- if not by the hour then at least by the day. As an example, even if Facebook published their detailed road map years ago, do you think MySpace would have been able to mimic their success? Of course not. The team you assemble and your ability to lead them through execution is what matters. That's 95% of it, if not more. > There needs to be trust in the company, because if you're just after short term cash, there's way better ways to find it than startups. Huh? What point are you trying to make here? Do you have employees joining your startup for short-term cash? If so, they're idiots and should go work for a larger company. I think the word you're looking for is "loyalty" and yes, of course you want to create an institution that promotes mutual loyalty. But you don't get it just by giving someone a job. You get it by valuing their skills, rewarding them for their efforts, and selling them on the idea that you as a leader will make it worth their sacrifice.

trjordan 11y ago

I have. Last company I was the first the join, was acquired by a bigger startup, and left at 120 employees. I'm currently starting my own company. Maybe idea is the wrong word. Vision? Strategic plan? Narrowly-focused execution with an emphasis on coherence? Facebook and MySpace are the same idea, but vastly different companies, no matter when you compared them. Communicating all the things you do differently isn't something that you can do with a website or a quick chat with a single employee. That structure of shared ideas is important, and in small companies, it's basically all that exists. Comparatively, the code and customer base replaceable. And anybody can leave, at any time, in the same way that I'm allowed to fire anybody or sell the company with a provision to devalue the equity. There's a million ways for us all to screw each other. There needs to be trust in the company, because if you're just after short term cash, there's way better ways to find it than startups.

prdonahue 11y ago
If all you have are (shared) ideas, you have nothing. Think about it this way: even if you took everything you've planned to do with your NewCo and published it for the world to see, and then encouraged people to copy your plan, you'd have a hell of a hard time convincing anyone to do so. It's also one snapshot in time, for something that evolves rapidly -- if not by the hour then at least by the day. As an example, even if Facebook published their detailed road map years ago, do you think MySpace would have been able to mimic their success? Of course not. The team you assemble and your ability to lead them through execution is what matters. That's 95% of it, if not more. > There needs to be trust in the company, because if you're just after short term cash, there's way better ways to find it than startups. Huh? What point are you trying to make here? Do you have employees joining your startup for short-term cash? If so, they're idiots and should go work for a larger company. I think the word you're looking for is "loyalty" and yes, of course you want to create an institution that promotes mutual loyalty. But you don't get it just by giving someone a job. You get it by valuing their skills, rewarding them for their efforts, and selling them on the idea that you as a leader will make it worth their sacrifice.