7 ms·

I’ve worked in both big tech and startups. Startups are nothing like big tech companies. The work and needs of a small company are completely different than som

I’ve worked in both big tech and startups. Startups are nothing like big tech companies. The work and needs of a small company are completely different than somewhere like Google. And here’s the bad news: going to a small startup or mission-driven company probably won’t make you happy. You often have all of the same problems, with none of the support or validation from a big company. I’ve hired and worked with many who were in your exact same position. Almost all of them quit after a year or less and went back to big tech. In my eyes, hiring someone from big tech is risky for this exact reason. It rarely works out, and the guys I’ve worked with end up getting sour when they realize they traded a job with high salary, security and perks for what amounts to at the end of the day another job with lower salary, few perks and no security because they got restless or bored.

JMTQp8lwXL 7y ago
Consider avoiding sample bias (or any unconscious bias) that might shape your further hiring decisions. Also --even if they only lasted a year-- if they gave their A game, they may have made impactful contributions to the startup.
taurath 7y ago
Boredom was the biggest thing for me at my startup. When waiting around for the business guys to make the right partnership for 3 months while you refactor for a demo for the nth time....
- ramraj07 7y ago
  That doesn't sound like a typical startup experience though. Typically it's the opposite: too many things to do and the deadlines are always too short.
  - phinnaeus 7y ago
    This also sounds suspiciously similar to big tech...
    - _AzMoo 7y ago
      This sounds suspiciously like all business everywhere.
      - deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
  - taurath 7y ago
    Yup, and I WANTED the typical startup experience when I joined, so I left once I could see there wasn't much traction, plus a few more red flags.
- throwaway9980 7y ago
  I’ve lived this a couple times. I hate to be pessimistic, but it’s a really bad sign. The startups I’ve done that were successful were always running just at the edge of total meltdown because the business guys were hustling hard.
  - lmeyerov 7y ago
    Heh, that's the diff between early stage and growth stage. Some people like going 0-1, others like riding what others have built.
- brianwawok 7y ago
  Found as a solo! You are the business guy making partnerships, so if you have nothing to code it is no ones fault but your own!
arvinaminpour 7y ago
So this is something a lot of us have struggled with and I think it happens when your goals aren't aligned with your work. So what are your goals right now out of work? What is your workview and your lifeview. Find the intersection between those to get a good idea of what you want to accomplish in your life. After coming up with those, try and tabulate the things you do at work where you have the most energy and the stuff you do at work that engages you the most. Hopefully, there are things in that list that give you some energy or engagement. If there is, do more of that and tell your manager to help you move towards doing more of that work. If there isn't, ask yourself what you want to learn. If you can't learn that on your current team, switch to a position/team where you can learn that. If your company can't provide you with those opportunities, then it might be time to find something new. Startups are super rewarding but there are many unknowns and you have to do a lot of vetting to find the right ones. Even then, you could be wrong. If your goal is to start a company, then it might be the right route to go. TLDR: Try and understand your goals in life and what you enjoy doing day to day before jumping ship to a startup. Your safety net will allow you to do that :)
- sfifs 7y ago
  I don't know why your comment is being downvoted. This is the usually the root of work frustrations I have seen people have (including in startups). If your goal is to achieve public acclaim And recognition, you will do things differently vs. say a goal of work on intellectually stimulating things vs. say controlling the decisions in a company. I have a colleague who once got a kick out being the one to sign the cheques of major celebrities who endorse our brands and you'll have a different kind of career path if that's your goal vs. say the kicks a financial trader gets. Problems usually happen with job satisfaction when either goals aren't clear or you're optimizing towards conflicting goals.
zerr 7y ago
Small companies more easily provide perks such as part/flex-time and remote work.
- techpop10 7y ago
  Totally disagree as someone who has done both a few times: Try working remotely or from home with a small company or startup. In those environments you typically wear more than one hat and it requires face time. You'll also often work longer hours which throws any chance at a work/life balance out the window.
  - ta345345435 7y ago
    Have to agree, and the stakes are higher. My recent experience was with a bunch of ex-corporate types that had worked together for quite a while then spawned a new startup, but obviously had lost the passion for work, so new hires were bought on to revitalize the small team (and do the lions share of the work). The only thing I'd say that counts is get any promises/sweeteners said in the hiring phase in writing. Every C-level I've met to date has promised great things, and been a stingy, greedy bastard at the end of the day.
  - tadzik_ 7y ago
    Just as a counterbalance, my experience is the exact opposite. No client yet succeeded at making me work more than 20 hours a week (and even that I agreed to after heavy negotiation).
  - sojournerc 7y ago
    I'm sure that's common, but by no means universal. I work at a 5 person startup, and do wear a lot of hats, but remote is flexible (2 or more days a week) and I maintain reasonable work hours. Just saying it does exist. One reason I think it works is all of us are very autonomous in day to day tasks, and only meet occasionally to verify priority and align expectations.
iuete 7y ago
I don't think the only two options are big tech and chaotic startup. There are non-tech places that just want someone to add some tech to their business, for example.
- C1sc0cat 7y ago
  True but get ready for taking ages to get changes done
- donkeyd 7y ago
  There's also big consultancy, which allows you to see all kinds of companies, work on different types of projects and still have a bit of consistency at your firm. It's not for everyone, but if you value some consistency, decent pay and working for different types of projects and companies, it's definitely worth checking it out. It's not the type of job to find a 'mission' though, usually.
  - ignoramous 7y ago
    I've seen consulting being suggested freq as a viable gig to support yourself when you run out of money to pay the bills. How does this work? Register on Upwork or fiverr? What if your capabilities as a consultant are inadequate? What if you struggle more than you actually did at a full time job? How do you position yourself for the gig?
    - foobiekr 7y ago
      Fiverr and Upwork are for inexperienced people with no network and no deep skills. I am sure there are people who are good who are on both but that's not who they are for. Most of the time, you make money consulting to people you worked with, directly or indirectly, previously. To make consulting work, you need to offer a specific, deep skill that is not widely available. This can include specific systems or toole, specific markets, specific deployments, and so on. This is specifically why Upwork and Fiverr don't make any sense - no one who hires someone to do consulting is going to look on either for highly skilled hires and likely wouldn't take seriously anyone who was on them. Unfortunately, this does mean that doing consulting prior to getting career experience and building out your network is quite difficult and has a very different earnings profile than it would otherwise. Being close to the customer helps in finding these gigs, especially vendor-side.

JMTQp8lwXL 7y ago

Consider avoiding sample bias (or any unconscious bias) that might shape your further hiring decisions. Also --even if they only lasted a year-- if they gave their A game, they may have made impactful contributions to the startup.

taurath 7y ago

Boredom was the biggest thing for me at my startup. When waiting around for the business guys to make the right partnership for 3 months while you refactor for a demo for the nth time....

ramraj07 7y ago
That doesn't sound like a typical startup experience though. Typically it's the opposite: too many things to do and the deadlines are always too short.
- phinnaeus 7y ago
  This also sounds suspiciously similar to big tech...
  - _AzMoo 7y ago
    This sounds suspiciously like all business everywhere.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
- taurath 7y ago
  Yup, and I WANTED the typical startup experience when I joined, so I left once I could see there wasn't much traction, plus a few more red flags.
throwaway9980 7y ago
I’ve lived this a couple times. I hate to be pessimistic, but it’s a really bad sign. The startups I’ve done that were successful were always running just at the edge of total meltdown because the business guys were hustling hard.
- lmeyerov 7y ago
  Heh, that's the diff between early stage and growth stage. Some people like going 0-1, others like riding what others have built.
brianwawok 7y ago
Found as a solo! You are the business guy making partnerships, so if you have nothing to code it is no ones fault but your own!

arvinaminpour 7y ago

So this is something a lot of us have struggled with and I think it happens when your goals aren't aligned with your work. So what are your goals right now out of work? What is your workview and your lifeview. Find the intersection between those to get a good idea of what you want to accomplish in your life. After coming up with those, try and tabulate the things you do at work where you have the most energy and the stuff you do at work that engages you the most. Hopefully, there are things in that list that give you some energy or engagement. If there is, do more of that and tell your manager to help you move towards doing more of that work. If there isn't, ask yourself what you want to learn. If you can't learn that on your current team, switch to a position/team where you can learn that. If your company can't provide you with those opportunities, then it might be time to find something new. Startups are super rewarding but there are many unknowns and you have to do a lot of vetting to find the right ones. Even then, you could be wrong. If your goal is to start a company, then it might be the right route to go. TLDR: Try and understand your goals in life and what you enjoy doing day to day before jumping ship to a startup. Your safety net will allow you to do that :)

sfifs 7y ago
I don't know why your comment is being downvoted. This is the usually the root of work frustrations I have seen people have (including in startups). If your goal is to achieve public acclaim And recognition, you will do things differently vs. say a goal of work on intellectually stimulating things vs. say controlling the decisions in a company. I have a colleague who once got a kick out being the one to sign the cheques of major celebrities who endorse our brands and you'll have a different kind of career path if that's your goal vs. say the kicks a financial trader gets. Problems usually happen with job satisfaction when either goals aren't clear or you're optimizing towards conflicting goals.

zerr 7y ago

Small companies more easily provide perks such as part/flex-time and remote work.

techpop10 7y ago
Totally disagree as someone who has done both a few times: Try working remotely or from home with a small company or startup. In those environments you typically wear more than one hat and it requires face time. You'll also often work longer hours which throws any chance at a work/life balance out the window.
- ta345345435 7y ago
  Have to agree, and the stakes are higher. My recent experience was with a bunch of ex-corporate types that had worked together for quite a while then spawned a new startup, but obviously had lost the passion for work, so new hires were bought on to revitalize the small team (and do the lions share of the work). The only thing I'd say that counts is get any promises/sweeteners said in the hiring phase in writing. Every C-level I've met to date has promised great things, and been a stingy, greedy bastard at the end of the day.
- tadzik_ 7y ago
  Just as a counterbalance, my experience is the exact opposite. No client yet succeeded at making me work more than 20 hours a week (and even that I agreed to after heavy negotiation).
- sojournerc 7y ago
  I'm sure that's common, but by no means universal. I work at a 5 person startup, and do wear a lot of hats, but remote is flexible (2 or more days a week) and I maintain reasonable work hours. Just saying it does exist. One reason I think it works is all of us are very autonomous in day to day tasks, and only meet occasionally to verify priority and align expectations.

iuete 7y ago

I don't think the only two options are big tech and chaotic startup. There are non-tech places that just want someone to add some tech to their business, for example.

C1sc0cat 7y ago
True but get ready for taking ages to get changes done
donkeyd 7y ago
There's also big consultancy, which allows you to see all kinds of companies, work on different types of projects and still have a bit of consistency at your firm. It's not for everyone, but if you value some consistency, decent pay and working for different types of projects and companies, it's definitely worth checking it out. It's not the type of job to find a 'mission' though, usually.
- ignoramous 7y ago
  I've seen consulting being suggested freq as a viable gig to support yourself when you run out of money to pay the bills. How does this work? Register on Upwork or fiverr? What if your capabilities as a consultant are inadequate? What if you struggle more than you actually did at a full time job? How do you position yourself for the gig?
  - foobiekr 7y ago
    Fiverr and Upwork are for inexperienced people with no network and no deep skills. I am sure there are people who are good who are on both but that's not who they are for. Most of the time, you make money consulting to people you worked with, directly or indirectly, previously. To make consulting work, you need to offer a specific, deep skill that is not widely available. This can include specific systems or toole, specific markets, specific deployments, and so on. This is specifically why Upwork and Fiverr don't make any sense - no one who hires someone to do consulting is going to look on either for highly skilled hires and likely wouldn't take seriously anyone who was on them. Unfortunately, this does mean that doing consulting prior to getting career experience and building out your network is quite difficult and has a very different earnings profile than it would otherwise. Being close to the customer helps in finding these gigs, especially vendor-side.