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You're arguing against a straw-man version of my argument and you're making absurd claims in the process ("you don't learn anything from a startup" / "you spend

by gizmo 17y ago

You're arguing against a straw-man version of my argument and you're making absurd claims in the process ("you don't learn anything from a startup" / "you spend 60% of your day in meetings"). When you write nonsense like this you can't possibly expect a constructive responsive.

tptacek 17y ago
See, you think I'm exaggerating or being hyperbolic, and I'm not. I might be wrong. But I'm not just making things up. I am telling you that you probably don't learn more from failing in a startup than you could have in 3-5 years doing something else, and that yes, in fact, if you have the misfortune of getting funded, you can wind up in a job that you're handcuffed to that involves you spending most of your time in meetings. It worries me a little that people think this claim is so outlandish that anyone making it must be trolling. I'm really not.
- HeyLaughingBoy 17y ago
  Don't feel bad. What really made it sink in for me was when someone referred to "the myth" that most startups fail! pg immediately corrected him, but sometimes I still wonder how pervasive the idea is that most startups will make it big.
- gizmo 17y ago
  When you do a startup you have to learn about building a product, finding customers, managing a team efficiently, hiring the right people, building a brand for your company, determine a revenue model, basic bookkeeping, and so on. I'm just listing a couple of the many things you have to learn when doing a startup. None of these things you have to do when you're a software engineer in an established company. You can only spend a few hours a day on software, if you're lucky. The rest of the time you're building different skills. So that's why I can't take the claim "you don't learn anything" seriously. If you're in meetings all day you're either not delegating enough or you like being in meetings all day. Either way nobody is forcing you to have meetings all day every day.

by gizmo 17y ago

tptacek 17y ago

See, you think I'm exaggerating or being hyperbolic, and I'm not. I might be wrong. But I'm not just making things up. I am telling you that you probably don't learn more from failing in a startup than you could have in 3-5 years doing something else, and that yes, in fact, if you have the misfortune of getting funded, you can wind up in a job that you're handcuffed to that involves you spending most of your time in meetings. It worries me a little that people think this claim is so outlandish that anyone making it must be trolling. I'm really not.

HeyLaughingBoy 17y ago
Don't feel bad. What really made it sink in for me was when someone referred to "the myth" that most startups fail! pg immediately corrected him, but sometimes I still wonder how pervasive the idea is that most startups will make it big.
gizmo 17y ago
When you do a startup you have to learn about building a product, finding customers, managing a team efficiently, hiring the right people, building a brand for your company, determine a revenue model, basic bookkeeping, and so on. I'm just listing a couple of the many things you have to learn when doing a startup. None of these things you have to do when you're a software engineer in an established company. You can only spend a few hours a day on software, if you're lucky. The rest of the time you're building different skills. So that's why I can't take the claim "you don't learn anything" seriously. If you're in meetings all day you're either not delegating enough or you like being in meetings all day. Either way nobody is forcing you to have meetings all day every day.