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"Will a society that has grown accustomed to hearing about startups employees’ big salaries and cushy perks — dog-walking services while working, anyone? — and

"Will a society that has grown accustomed to hearing about startups employees’ big salaries and cushy perks — dog-walking services while working, anyone? — and that are mainly based in the big coastal cities, be willing to bail out what many might see as privileged and coddled millennials?" Curious what people think about this question.

javajosh 6y ago
It's a troll, not a question. Are people really reading it at face value, or do they subscribe to the popular view that most content is generated to serve the sick desperation of an aging and fading publishing industry desperate for attention and clicks? (see what I did there?)
Ididntdothis 6y ago
I really hope they won’t get bailed out. I think it would be healthier for tech if there was less investor money floating around so people can focus in tech and not on hyper growth. Maybe there will be a trend towards more bootstrapped companies that run real businesses as in making profits.
- amw-zero 6y ago
  I wish I could upvote this 10 times. The Silicon Valley meme of some companies is too real. I only work for companies with a practical business model that I think has an actual chance of making money. It seems strange to have to stress that.
- drusepth 6y ago
  I really hope so too. I've been running a decently-profitable bootstrapped company for a few years now and it's been weird having potential investors/acquirers looking more at things like activity/growth metrics than dollar amounts and profitability. (Obviously, both are very important and I understand why an investor would look at what a cash infusion could do; but I generally lean toward dollar amounts, runway, margins, and traction being more important when valuing a company than how quickly I could theoretically scale up and pivot/expand into new markets). I think there's a big disconnect in the world of "startups" (hyper growth) and "small businesses" (profitability and scaling), and bridging the gap between the two might have a net-positive impact on the market at large.
  - hef19898 6y ago
    That makes two. German start-ups managed to convince the government to set-up a 2 Bn € fund to bail out start-ups (that are defined how again?). The reasoning is that these companies are not eligible for other programs by virtue of not being financially stable enough to get bank loans. It's basically a VC / investor bail out. It would be rediculous if it wasn't so sad.
- joejerryronnie 6y ago
  Meanwhile, in the real world of VC’s, they’re still looking for the “Uber of x” to pull in a 100x return before they can offload the smoking carcass to the public markets.
- theredbox 6y ago
  The problem inherently lies in capitalism. If you dont do it someone else definitely will.
  - manigandham 6y ago
    Nothing about that is related to capitalism. Bailouts are actually an example of government artificially affecting the market to support companies that would otherwise die.
renewiltord 6y ago
They already are. We applied for and got PPP.
jbay808 6y ago
I wonder why "millennials" is relevant to the question being asked.
- bdcravens 6y ago
  It doesn't even make sense. Plenty of GenXers working in startup land.
  - fred_is_fred 6y ago
    While I also agree this is true there are weekly threads there that imply people over 35 (or 40) cannot get a job in software. All Gen-Xers are over 35, so only one or the other reflects reality.
    - oliverz 6y ago
      GenX is 40+ now
      - pmiller2 6y ago
        40 is over 35.
    - bdcravens 6y ago
      I don't think this is true. In my experience, those who are seem to have a constraint they don't mention, like knowing an older language that isn't in vogue (I spent a lot of time in the ColdFusion ecosystem, and there were many who really didn't know another language), and who haven't expanded their skillset as the industry has changed (front-end frameworks, Docker, cloud, git workflows, etc) (I'm not on the market now, but I'm 43, my coworker is 41 or 42 I think, and virtually every programmer friend/cohort I know of that's 40+ is still gainfully employed)
      - fred_is_fred 6y ago
        I agree with your impression as well and am also over 40. This site I think generally does not seem to agree with this sentiment.
majormajor 6y ago
Wait I thought startup employees were awkward young males living in small rooms in shared homes or dorm-like buildings, kinda just scraping by hoping their product catches on, and working 24/7?
- sarora27 6y ago
  you're confusing employees with founders :P
  - propogandist 6y ago
    High risk,high reward
- mrits 6y ago
  I'm not that young
emodendroket 6y ago
Depends how politically connected they are.

javajosh 6y ago

It's a troll, not a question. Are people really reading it at face value, or do they subscribe to the popular view that most content is generated to serve the sick desperation of an aging and fading publishing industry desperate for attention and clicks? (see what I did there?)

Ididntdothis 6y ago

I really hope they won’t get bailed out. I think it would be healthier for tech if there was less investor money floating around so people can focus in tech and not on hyper growth. Maybe there will be a trend towards more bootstrapped companies that run real businesses as in making profits.

amw-zero 6y ago
I wish I could upvote this 10 times. The Silicon Valley meme of some companies is too real. I only work for companies with a practical business model that I think has an actual chance of making money. It seems strange to have to stress that.
drusepth 6y ago
I really hope so too. I've been running a decently-profitable bootstrapped company for a few years now and it's been weird having potential investors/acquirers looking more at things like activity/growth metrics than dollar amounts and profitability. (Obviously, both are very important and I understand why an investor would look at what a cash infusion could do; but I generally lean toward dollar amounts, runway, margins, and traction being more important when valuing a company than how quickly I could theoretically scale up and pivot/expand into new markets). I think there's a big disconnect in the world of "startups" (hyper growth) and "small businesses" (profitability and scaling), and bridging the gap between the two might have a net-positive impact on the market at large.
- hef19898 6y ago
  That makes two. German start-ups managed to convince the government to set-up a 2 Bn € fund to bail out start-ups (that are defined how again?). The reasoning is that these companies are not eligible for other programs by virtue of not being financially stable enough to get bank loans. It's basically a VC / investor bail out. It would be rediculous if it wasn't so sad.
joejerryronnie 6y ago
Meanwhile, in the real world of VC’s, they’re still looking for the “Uber of x” to pull in a 100x return before they can offload the smoking carcass to the public markets.
theredbox 6y ago
The problem inherently lies in capitalism. If you dont do it someone else definitely will.
- manigandham 6y ago
  Nothing about that is related to capitalism. Bailouts are actually an example of government artificially affecting the market to support companies that would otherwise die.

renewiltord 6y ago

They already are. We applied for and got PPP.

jbay808 6y ago

I wonder why "millennials" is relevant to the question being asked.

bdcravens 6y ago
It doesn't even make sense. Plenty of GenXers working in startup land.
- fred_is_fred 6y ago
  While I also agree this is true there are weekly threads there that imply people over 35 (or 40) cannot get a job in software. All Gen-Xers are over 35, so only one or the other reflects reality.
  - oliverz 6y ago
    GenX is 40+ now
    - pmiller2 6y ago
      40 is over 35.
  - bdcravens 6y ago
    I don't think this is true. In my experience, those who are seem to have a constraint they don't mention, like knowing an older language that isn't in vogue (I spent a lot of time in the ColdFusion ecosystem, and there were many who really didn't know another language), and who haven't expanded their skillset as the industry has changed (front-end frameworks, Docker, cloud, git workflows, etc) (I'm not on the market now, but I'm 43, my coworker is 41 or 42 I think, and virtually every programmer friend/cohort I know of that's 40+ is still gainfully employed)
    - fred_is_fred 6y ago
      I agree with your impression as well and am also over 40. This site I think generally does not seem to agree with this sentiment.

majormajor 6y ago

Wait I thought startup employees were awkward young males living in small rooms in shared homes or dorm-like buildings, kinda just scraping by hoping their product catches on, and working 24/7?

sarora27 6y ago
you're confusing employees with founders :P
- propogandist 6y ago
  High risk,high reward
mrits 6y ago
I'm not that young

emodendroket 6y ago

Depends how politically connected they are.