5 ms·

This sort of demographic is definitely very rare, but it definitely exists.

ThrustVectoring 9y ago
The problem isn't that that demographic doesn't exist. It's that you can't hire them on as employees. Driven, talented, experienced engineers have been paid six figures for a decade and presumably have saved some of it. If they don't want to do the start-up grind, they don't have to. If they do want to do the start-up grind, they can do so as founders.
- jamiesonbecker 9y ago
  You're absolutely right, but that's not what I was responding to. Incidentally, that's one very solid reason to raise VC: the ability to attract and retain experienced team members that already have many options.
  - ShannonAlther 9y ago
    I still don't believe it's possible, at least not often. Hiring a senior rockstar/ninja/10x whatever means you have to offer them more money than they're currently making (which you have to imagine is a lot) and/or they need to really be so invested in your idea that they're willing to drop everything and join you. I'm not saying this from a position of authority, I haven't founded a startup or anything like that. But the average age of a startup founder is mid-20s IIRC, and you'd have a hard time convincing an extremely talented individual, who's older than you, to sign on.
    - jamiesonbecker 9y ago
      It's possible. I've had people older than me join me. I've got multiple startups under my belt. The hardest part is not getting them to join you.. the problem is getting them to stick! Especially in the beginning at a bootstrapped startup without a salary. Simply put, they have other options -- a Real Job(tm) or career they can go back to; and those options start looking better and better when things are bumpy (esp at the beginning). But, you can compensate for that. (by aggressively compensating on actual profits.) On that note... If you're reading this thread and have lots of experience and looking to join a hot security startup, we're looking for both experienced and inexperienced rockstars/ninjas/10x/etc. Please email me at first.last at userify.com. We have specific needs in the areas of enterprise sales and marketing, as well as engineering, security, systems architecture, Go, Python, and we're also looking for a strong Windows lead.
      - ShannonAlther 9y ago
        Δ That's really insightful. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me!
        jamiesonbecker 9y ago
        Thanks as well Shannon!

The problem isn't that that demographic doesn't exist. It's that you can't hire them on as employees. Driven, talented, experienced engineers have been paid six figures for a decade and presumably have saved some of it. If they don't want to do the start-up grind, they don't have to. If they do want to do the start-up grind, they can do so as founders.

jamiesonbecker 9y ago
You're absolutely right, but that's not what I was responding to. Incidentally, that's one very solid reason to raise VC: the ability to attract and retain experienced team members that already have many options.
- ShannonAlther 9y ago
  I still don't believe it's possible, at least not often. Hiring a senior rockstar/ninja/10x whatever means you have to offer them more money than they're currently making (which you have to imagine is a lot) and/or they need to really be so invested in your idea that they're willing to drop everything and join you. I'm not saying this from a position of authority, I haven't founded a startup or anything like that. But the average age of a startup founder is mid-20s IIRC, and you'd have a hard time convincing an extremely talented individual, who's older than you, to sign on.
  - jamiesonbecker 9y ago
    It's possible. I've had people older than me join me. I've got multiple startups under my belt. The hardest part is not getting them to join you.. the problem is getting them to stick! Especially in the beginning at a bootstrapped startup without a salary. Simply put, they have other options -- a Real Job(tm) or career they can go back to; and those options start looking better and better when things are bumpy (esp at the beginning). But, you can compensate for that. (by aggressively compensating on actual profits.) On that note... If you're reading this thread and have lots of experience and looking to join a hot security startup, we're looking for both experienced and inexperienced rockstars/ninjas/10x/etc. Please email me at first.last at userify.com. We have specific needs in the areas of enterprise sales and marketing, as well as engineering, security, systems architecture, Go, Python, and we're also looking for a strong Windows lead.
    - ShannonAlther 9y ago
      Δ That's really insightful. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me!
      - jamiesonbecker 9y ago
        Thanks as well Shannon!