3 ms·

If you have an idea of sufficient merit what would incentivise you to give it up to your employer versus quitting and trying to do it yourself? I realise that s

by tjpnz 6y ago

If you have an idea of sufficient merit what would incentivise you to give it up to your employer versus quitting and trying to do it yourself? I realise that startups aren't for everyone but the alternative seems far less appealing and doesn't guarantee you any control over how it's executed (and very likely none of the reward).

bob1029 6y ago
This is a dilemma I struggle with currently. I have several product ideas that I can either run 100% on my own, or I can try to convince my current CEO that we should start building these out and selling them to our existing client base. The advantage of starting your own path is that you get 100% autonomy over every decision and every client that you take on. This can give you an incredible uplift because nothing is ever in your way from an organization/people/politics angle. The disadvantage is that you have to rebuild all that corporate boilerplate in order to establish name/brand/reputation/process/etc. You also don't have many constraints acting upon you when starting from zero, and you can wind up making piles of decisions that roll-up into disaster. I think the best course of action would be to present your ideas to executive leadership. If you can secure some equity share in the organization or products you propose, this is easily the fastest and least stressful way to get them to market. Being able to reuse your same HR, marketing & sales teams can save you potentially years of headache. If your current organization is gigantic or otherwise inflexible, you are probably best suited building out your project on your own time, incorporating LLC over the weekend, etc. One day you just put in your notice and move on with your dream.
hedora 6y ago
Common reasons I’ve encountered include: - “Golden handcuffs” - $BIGCO / $RECENT_IPO accidentally pays way above market because the stock appreciated since the person was hired. - “Benching” - $BIGCO hires an army of senior people at significantly above market rate to do work that should go to a recent grad. They can’t attract competent recent grads, and can’t retain senior engineers at market rate. - “Resting and vesting” You did a bunch of quality innovative work, but corporate culture changed and the opportunities to pursue new projects dried up before your stock vested. Since quality engineers get bored quickly, and most good ideas have a short shelf life, why not pitch them to management while you’re twiddling your thumbs?

by tjpnz 6y ago

bob1029 6y ago

This is a dilemma I struggle with currently. I have several product ideas that I can either run 100% on my own, or I can try to convince my current CEO that we should start building these out and selling them to our existing client base. The advantage of starting your own path is that you get 100% autonomy over every decision and every client that you take on. This can give you an incredible uplift because nothing is ever in your way from an organization/people/politics angle. The disadvantage is that you have to rebuild all that corporate boilerplate in order to establish name/brand/reputation/process/etc. You also don't have many constraints acting upon you when starting from zero, and you can wind up making piles of decisions that roll-up into disaster. I think the best course of action would be to present your ideas to executive leadership. If you can secure some equity share in the organization or products you propose, this is easily the fastest and least stressful way to get them to market. Being able to reuse your same HR, marketing & sales teams can save you potentially years of headache. If your current organization is gigantic or otherwise inflexible, you are probably best suited building out your project on your own time, incorporating LLC over the weekend, etc. One day you just put in your notice and move on with your dream.

hedora 6y ago

Common reasons I’ve encountered include: - “Golden handcuffs” - $BIGCO / $RECENT_IPO accidentally pays way above market because the stock appreciated since the person was hired. - “Benching” - $BIGCO hires an army of senior people at significantly above market rate to do work that should go to a recent grad. They can’t attract competent recent grads, and can’t retain senior engineers at market rate. - “Resting and vesting” You did a bunch of quality innovative work, but corporate culture changed and the opportunities to pursue new projects dried up before your stock vested. Since quality engineers get bored quickly, and most good ideas have a short shelf life, why not pitch them to management while you’re twiddling your thumbs?