4 ms·

I joined a series A startup years ago for none of your "valid" reasons and have never regretted it. It was a company that I already knew of and admired their pr

I joined a series A startup years ago for none of your "valid" reasons and have never regretted it. It was a company that I already knew of and admired their product, and they had enough traction at that point to offer at least several years' worth of runway/stability ie I didn't have to worry about my job disappearing unexpectedly (at least not more so than any other California job). Work-life balance was always totally fine. I learned a ton right from the start, was able to make a big impact, and worked in the smaller "get stuff done" environment that I prefer over bureaucratic organizations.

decebalus1 8y ago
Sounds super great! Congratulations on your anecdotal experience which means absolutely nothing in this context. I just hope a wide-eyed college grad doesn't come across it and influences his/hers decision about joining.
- master-litty 8y ago
  Subjective meets subjective. It's the appropriate context. I hope it helps college grads make an informed decision that's right for them.
- zakm 8y ago
  So do you have some kinda data breakdown on the typical startup, or just other anecdotal experience?
  - decebalus1 8y ago
    Do I need to provide data breakdown to prove that an anecdote is just an anecdote? I'm trying to figure out if you're trying a full fledged 'On the spot fallacy' or just a basic 'shifting the burden of proof'.
    - dang 8y ago
      The flamey unsubstantive sort of comments you've posted in this thread are just what we're trying to avoid here. If you'd please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and follow the rules of the site, we'd appreciate it. HN threads are conversation. Anecdotes are the life blood of conversation. This is an internet forum, not a peer-reviewed journal.
      - decebalus1 8y ago
        Noted. Thanks. I will quote you on `Anecdotes are the life blood of conversation. This is an internet forum, not a peer-reviewed journal.` in the future, if you don't mind.
woolvalley 8y ago
That is nominally a series A startup, but actually a bootstrapped since series A startup. Big difference.
- nostrademons 8y ago
  "Bootstrapping" usually refers to funding the company (in the seed stage) without external investment, whether through pre-selling to customers, relying on founders' savings, doing consulting, etc. I think the term you're looking for is "profitable".
  - derefr 8y ago
    Not quite, since a "profitable" investor-backed company is still usually pushed by those investors to seek further investment, whether the company needs it to continue growing or not. (It just needs it to grow to the level that an investor would care about.) The concept here is closer to "firing your investors" or "buying back your equity", but they haven't necessarily done that yet.
    - nostrademons 8y ago
      If you've got board control after the Series A and are profitable, they have zero leverage over your future decisions.

decebalus1 8y ago

Sounds super great! Congratulations on your anecdotal experience which means absolutely nothing in this context. I just hope a wide-eyed college grad doesn't come across it and influences his/hers decision about joining.

master-litty 8y ago
Subjective meets subjective. It's the appropriate context. I hope it helps college grads make an informed decision that's right for them.
zakm 8y ago
So do you have some kinda data breakdown on the typical startup, or just other anecdotal experience?
- decebalus1 8y ago
  Do I need to provide data breakdown to prove that an anecdote is just an anecdote? I'm trying to figure out if you're trying a full fledged 'On the spot fallacy' or just a basic 'shifting the burden of proof'.
  - dang 8y ago
    The flamey unsubstantive sort of comments you've posted in this thread are just what we're trying to avoid here. If you'd please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and follow the rules of the site, we'd appreciate it. HN threads are conversation. Anecdotes are the life blood of conversation. This is an internet forum, not a peer-reviewed journal.
    - decebalus1 8y ago
      Noted. Thanks. I will quote you on `Anecdotes are the life blood of conversation. This is an internet forum, not a peer-reviewed journal.` in the future, if you don't mind.

woolvalley 8y ago

That is nominally a series A startup, but actually a bootstrapped since series A startup. Big difference.

nostrademons 8y ago
"Bootstrapping" usually refers to funding the company (in the seed stage) without external investment, whether through pre-selling to customers, relying on founders' savings, doing consulting, etc. I think the term you're looking for is "profitable".
- derefr 8y ago
  Not quite, since a "profitable" investor-backed company is still usually pushed by those investors to seek further investment, whether the company needs it to continue growing or not. (It just needs it to grow to the level that an investor would care about.) The concept here is closer to "firing your investors" or "buying back your equity", but they haven't necessarily done that yet.
  - nostrademons 8y ago
    If you've got board control after the Series A and are profitable, they have zero leverage over your future decisions.