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If you think of the Valley (or wherever you are) as a lottery then your chances of winning are about the same as those of a lottery. If you think of yourself as
by CalChris 8y ago
If you think of the Valley (or wherever you are) as a lottery then your chances of winning are about the same as those of a lottery. If you think of yourself as your personal VC then your odds approach those of a VC which while not great and moreover not diversified, they are much much better than a lottery.
- donaldknuth123 8y agoThis analogy fails almost immediately. Real VCs distribute their bets across dozens of companies. You personally are placing one massive bet on one single company so your odds are far worse than a VC.
- maxxxxx 8y agoHow do you diversify as an employee/engineer? work for 10 startups at the same time?
- CalChris 8y agoYou can't. That is what distinguishes you from a VC. Actually, you can. Serially. Plenty of people work for a startup through its early stage. A year here, a year there. That's diversification.
- maxxxxx 8y agoBut how do you determine when it's time to jump ship? A year seems awfully short to make that determination.
- CalChris 8y agoIf your object is diversification of your investment then one year isn't too short. However, typically your option vests monthly after the cliff. So you don't have to stay for two years unless you want to.
- opportune 8y agoBounce around until you find somewhere that has a rocketship trajectory? If you can work at 10 startups over a 20 year career, your odds aren't terrible