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Here we go... Most of the people I have seen writing (and upvoting) these kinds of comments have never worked for a startup, and they are bitter (for one reaso
by aberman 16y ago
Here we go...
Most of the people I have seen writing (and upvoting) these kinds of comments have never worked for a startup, and they are bitter (for one reason or another). Or they have worked for a startup and it's failed.
Are you really trying to look out for the best interests of all those poor, mis-guided people working for all those cruel and single-minded startups, or are you trying to convince yourself that your own life decision to work "for The Man in [your] day job in a cold corporate environment" was the right one.
I spend A LOT of time with former startup employees. They are happy with their decisions. I say former because many of them have been a part of an exit, and are now working on their own companies...with some cash in their pockets, an impressive rolodex (of investors), and a good reputation because they were part of a winning team.
Most of the employees of early stage and recently funded companies that I know are happy to be where they are. They work late because they are passionate and enthusiastic and they like to win.
Keep putting them (and the startups that employ them) down. You're cause is really noble.
- _delirium 16y agoIsn't it a pretty big caveat to exclude people who've "worked for a startup and it's failed", given how large a proportion of startups fail? I mean, sure, if you only consider employees of startups that ended up with large exits, things look a lot rosier than if you look at the whole set of startup employees.
- aberman 16y agoYes, sorry. I should have said: people who have never worked for a startup that has succeeded, or for a startup that has failed, but has provided a valuable enough experience to justify working there.
- dhume 16y agoYou're still selecting for those with favorable startup employment experiences, so the problem still stands: excluding them does not give an accurate picture of the typical result if bad experience is what's typical.
- shykes 16y agoNow the question is: when a startup fails, how often does it turn out to be a valuable experience anyway?
- varjag 16y agoThe most valuable experiences out of it are a bit of humility and growing your personal network. That's why this kind of employment IMO only worth it in the beginning of your career.
- billclerico 16y agoi think the hands-on, general experience at a startup far outweighs the silo'd, specialized experience at a big company anyday
- ori_b 16y agoYou're deep in tautology land. Of course people that had a good experience with startups had a good experience with startups.