5 ms·

This is how to get paid to develop your startup

49 points by CyberFonic 16y ago

Sally missed her chance. Instead of watching TV whilst on the bench, she could have gotten a startup running and being paid for it. Now what was the name of that consulting firm?

dasil003 16y ago
I don't believe this story. Oh I'm sure there's a kernel of truth in there, but I think it's mostly made up.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- barmstrong 16y ago
  Agreed. It paralleled my experience at Deloitte Consulting almost exactly up until they said 11 months of being "on the bench". It was more like 3 weeks in my case probably (and after that consistent mind numbing 50 hour weeks). And during my short time in consulting I never met anyone else who was "on the bench" longer than maybe 3-4 weeks or so. So yeah, I'd say the story is either exaggerated or an anomaly.
  - fbnt 16y ago
    In my experience in Accenture I've seen several people 'benched' during a re-assignment, in some extreme cases for as much as 3 weeks - 1 month, but eleven months is utterly exaggerated. This is obviously bogus. Plus, when you're in stand-by you're supposed to be at the company's main offices (normally, you'd be working at the client's premises) doing online or offline training.
hartror 16y ago
What a fantastic opportunity to start a side business and work on it full time!
cmars232 16y ago
Reminds me a bit of IBM Global Services in the late 90s.
- CyberFonic 16y ago
  I was hired by a related entity. Was benched for just over six weeks. Got fed up with it and quit. Never regretted it since.
- scrrr 16y ago
  I can relate. Lots of Benchtime and then suddendly you have to travel across the continent to do work you're not interested in. That's consulting in a big company.. To be fair, the first year I was part of a great team with an excellent boss that mentored me and taught me a lot about business, sales and managing people. Then he left and so did I. also never regretted that decision.
thejo 16y ago
Some hyperbole, but the general idea that employees are on the bench for a very long time is true. I spent the first year of my career at a large services company and saw a number of friends go through this. It may seem surprising that people are paid when they don't have anything to do, but that's part of the business model. The companies want to be able to say, "we have 300 people ready to start now if you sign the contract". If I'm not mistaken, 20-25% of the workforce can be on the bench at any given time. The sad part is that new college grads are thrilled that they get paid without having to do anything, which is dumb. Some of the most productive time of their lives is lost forever.
- potatolicious 16y ago
  Indeed. I'm surprised she just sat around and did nothing - if I were in that situation I'd be ecstatic about getting the money, but very concerned about what this does to my employability down the line. If I interviewed someone with "two years" of experience in-industry, and it turns out that all they've done since graduation is sit around and chew corn flakes... well, there are a lot more qualified people out there.
ebun 16y ago
These types of things do happen at consulting firms but you never know how long you'll be on the bench till you get your next gig. Because of that, I don't know if it's any more conducive to developing a startup than any other situation. You could very easily go from the bench to an 80hr/week project in short amount of time. If I were developing something on the side, I'd rather have more of a set, regular schedule.
- dasil003 16y ago
  ...and no money?
  - ebun 16y ago
    Not saying I'd be jobless, just having a set schedule. :) As someone who worked for a major technology consulting firm, I can tell you how difficult it can be.
Tichy 16y ago
If you start a startup on company time, the company might end up owning your startup.
- nandemo 16y ago
  What if you work in the night and then sleep 9 to 5pm? Then you would be working at your time, and only sleeping at company time.
  - rubinelli 16y ago
    It doesn't matter. They way they word the contract, it looks as if they could claim your firstborn as company property.
    - SandB0x 16y ago
      A lot of this stuff is unenforceable though.
    - loewenskind 16y ago
      Just because something is written in a contract (which you may have signed in preference to starving or losing your house) doesn't mean it can be enforced. Imagine if a company wrote in the fine print that if you cost them money they can kill you. Do you think they would be allowed to because you signed the contract?
      - Tichy 16y ago
        Sure, but that doesn't imply that nothing that is in a contract can be enforced. Do you have some information as to the enforceability of disowning moonlighters?
        loewenskind 16y ago
        Well, I was under the impression that if one clause in the contract is unenforceable then the whole thing is invalid (in the US). Am I incorrect? >Do you have some information as to the enforceability of disowning moonlighters? Enforceability? You mean if you moonlight they fire you? Well, I'm sure they can find a reason to fire you any time they want for whatever reason, but hopefully they will only even know about your moonlighting because it was successful enough that you don't need them anymore.
RoyceFullerton 16y ago
My advice to her: Go on. Be a tiger.
helwr 16y ago
I've had exactly this kind of experience working for a Big 4 consulting firm a couple of years back

49 points by CyberFonic 16y ago

Sally missed her chance. Instead of watching TV whilst on the bench, she could have gotten a startup running and being paid for it. Now what was the name of that consulting firm?

dasil003 16y ago

I don't believe this story. Oh I'm sure there's a kernel of truth in there, but I think it's mostly made up.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
barmstrong 16y ago
Agreed. It paralleled my experience at Deloitte Consulting almost exactly up until they said 11 months of being "on the bench". It was more like 3 weeks in my case probably (and after that consistent mind numbing 50 hour weeks). And during my short time in consulting I never met anyone else who was "on the bench" longer than maybe 3-4 weeks or so. So yeah, I'd say the story is either exaggerated or an anomaly.
- fbnt 16y ago
  In my experience in Accenture I've seen several people 'benched' during a re-assignment, in some extreme cases for as much as 3 weeks - 1 month, but eleven months is utterly exaggerated. This is obviously bogus. Plus, when you're in stand-by you're supposed to be at the company's main offices (normally, you'd be working at the client's premises) doing online or offline training.

hartror 16y ago

What a fantastic opportunity to start a side business and work on it full time!

cmars232 16y ago

Reminds me a bit of IBM Global Services in the late 90s.

CyberFonic 16y ago
I was hired by a related entity. Was benched for just over six weeks. Got fed up with it and quit. Never regretted it since.
scrrr 16y ago
I can relate. Lots of Benchtime and then suddendly you have to travel across the continent to do work you're not interested in. That's consulting in a big company.. To be fair, the first year I was part of a great team with an excellent boss that mentored me and taught me a lot about business, sales and managing people. Then he left and so did I. also never regretted that decision.

thejo 16y ago

Some hyperbole, but the general idea that employees are on the bench for a very long time is true. I spent the first year of my career at a large services company and saw a number of friends go through this. It may seem surprising that people are paid when they don't have anything to do, but that's part of the business model. The companies want to be able to say, "we have 300 people ready to start now if you sign the contract". If I'm not mistaken, 20-25% of the workforce can be on the bench at any given time. The sad part is that new college grads are thrilled that they get paid without having to do anything, which is dumb. Some of the most productive time of their lives is lost forever.

potatolicious 16y ago
Indeed. I'm surprised she just sat around and did nothing - if I were in that situation I'd be ecstatic about getting the money, but very concerned about what this does to my employability down the line. If I interviewed someone with "two years" of experience in-industry, and it turns out that all they've done since graduation is sit around and chew corn flakes... well, there are a lot more qualified people out there.

ebun 16y ago

These types of things do happen at consulting firms but you never know how long you'll be on the bench till you get your next gig. Because of that, I don't know if it's any more conducive to developing a startup than any other situation. You could very easily go from the bench to an 80hr/week project in short amount of time. If I were developing something on the side, I'd rather have more of a set, regular schedule.

dasil003 16y ago
...and no money?
- ebun 16y ago
  Not saying I'd be jobless, just having a set schedule. :) As someone who worked for a major technology consulting firm, I can tell you how difficult it can be.

Tichy 16y ago

If you start a startup on company time, the company might end up owning your startup.

nandemo 16y ago
What if you work in the night and then sleep 9 to 5pm? Then you would be working at your time, and only sleeping at company time.
- rubinelli 16y ago
  It doesn't matter. They way they word the contract, it looks as if they could claim your firstborn as company property.
  - SandB0x 16y ago
    A lot of this stuff is unenforceable though.
  - loewenskind 16y ago
    Just because something is written in a contract (which you may have signed in preference to starving or losing your house) doesn't mean it can be enforced. Imagine if a company wrote in the fine print that if you cost them money they can kill you. Do you think they would be allowed to because you signed the contract?
    - Tichy 16y ago
      Sure, but that doesn't imply that nothing that is in a contract can be enforced. Do you have some information as to the enforceability of disowning moonlighters?
      - loewenskind 16y ago
        Well, I was under the impression that if one clause in the contract is unenforceable then the whole thing is invalid (in the US). Am I incorrect? >Do you have some information as to the enforceability of disowning moonlighters? Enforceability? You mean if you moonlight they fire you? Well, I'm sure they can find a reason to fire you any time they want for whatever reason, but hopefully they will only even know about your moonlighting because it was successful enough that you don't need them anymore.

RoyceFullerton 16y ago

My advice to her: Go on. Be a tiger.

helwr 16y ago

I've had exactly this kind of experience working for a Big 4 consulting firm a couple of years back