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I know OP means well, but this is some of the most misguided advice I've ever seen on Hacker News... 1. Know the tech landscape better than anybody else This

by edw519 16y ago

I know OP means well, but this is some of the most misguided advice I've ever seen on Hacker News... 1. Know the tech landscape better than anybody else This is like saying, "Know God" or "Know the meaning of life". You'll be chasing down something elusive and nebulous while the rest of us are learning, building, and growing. Also, you will never know anything better than anybody else, so just get that self-defeating thought out of your head. 2. Form an opinion and start a blog If you've been there and done that, please share your experience. We're eager to hear about it. Otherwise, you should be listening, not talking. There are enough worthless blogs out there. Please don't add another one. 3. Be familiar with the startup culture - Each sport, industry, or college has a unique culture, with its own lingo, success stories, and taboos. Startup culture is no different. 2 things you can do with 4 possible scenarios: a. Build stuff that delivers long term value to others and can sustain itself as a business b. "fit in" - If you do both a. and b., great. - If you do a. and not b., no one will care that b. is missing. - If you do b. and not a., you're adding little or no value. - If you do neither a. or b., you're adding little or no value. In other words "culture", "lingo", "success stories", "taboos", are all non-issues. Bullshit. They don't matter. In the end, all that really matters (with rare exceptions) is a. You can skip #3. I’d also recommend hanging out on tech-heavy communities like Hacker News or Reddit. Observe how people interact. Pay close attention to which articles and comments get voted up or down. It will go a long way in figuring out what the startup culture sees as valuable. Decide if these values mesh with what you see as important. Please don't do this. All you will learn is how a crowd behaves, which may or may not have anything to do with what really matters. If you want to come to Hacker News to lurk and learn, welcome! But don't get caught up in what "the world thinks". This is a great recipe for the community to experience eternal September and for you to become just another poser. 4. Offer a concrete skill 99% of the work in a start-up is either building or selling & implementing. If you can do either well, great. If you can't, then learn how and forget all the rest of the bullshit in this post. 5. Take an internship Good advice, actually, for #4 above. 6. Send cold emails Please don't. Anywhere else that's called spam.

aridiculous 16y ago
I agree with a couple of your points but I think you might be overreacting. When the OP said to hang out at HN or learn all about the culture, that's really helpful for those who are completely unfamiliar with the whole industry. A lot of smart kids have never entered this world and it's a good primer. Just because they are new to startups doesn't make them hopeless -- I arrived a couple years ago and spent a few months just getting acquainted through tireless immersion. Cold emails are fine, if they have an edge to them and are informed and targeted. If you get emails from people who clearly put there heart into writing it, I think it's at least worth a quick reply. You're not a celebrity. And how else do you expect someone to get into the industry without some cold emails or calls? As someone who just got their foot in the door, I can definitively say one works at least twice as hard outside the industry than when one gets a job. Have some respect for that nonpaid effort, I say. That said, one should always be building up a defined skillset concurrently.
- edw519 16y ago
  I agree with a couple of your points but I think you might be overreacting. You're probably right and if so, I apologize. I guess it's just my way of venting my frustration with so many people talking when they should be listening. To me, OP's post just seems like feeding fuel to that fire. I would never want to discourage anyone from becoming part of our community. It's just that some ways are much better than others. And how else do you expect someone to get into the industry without some cold emails or calls? Networking. Better to get out there without an agenda, meet people, and grow. Most of us would much rather meet someone and get to know them than to just delete another unsolicited email among hundreds of others. Whether you email, network, or do something else, here's the most important thing: have something of value to offer, and offer it. That will get you noticed. That said, one should always be building up a defined skillset concurrently. Definitely! This never ends.
  - jsavimbi 16y ago
    "Networking." Absolutely right. Do you know how hard it is to find good potential hires? It's really fucking hard, costly and time-consuming. If you think you're doing someone a favor by dropping off your resume at their job-fair booth, you've got some things to learn. The best jobs are found via recommendation for a positions; better than that is to be recommended as a hire without there even being a position open with your specific skill or even a strategy in place on how to address that. Nobody is going to read your blog posts and come calling. (Unfortunately, some times they do for reasons unknown. Don't ask me why.) The only way to do that is to get out there and execute on your ideas, make friends with as many people as you can, respect them and yourself and yes, network your ass off, even if you aren't looking for a job. Show some chuptzah, create demand around yourself and get them thinking that if they don't float an offer out to you, someone else will.

by edw519 16y ago

aridiculous 16y ago

I agree with a couple of your points but I think you might be overreacting. When the OP said to hang out at HN or learn all about the culture, that's really helpful for those who are completely unfamiliar with the whole industry. A lot of smart kids have never entered this world and it's a good primer. Just because they are new to startups doesn't make them hopeless -- I arrived a couple years ago and spent a few months just getting acquainted through tireless immersion. Cold emails are fine, if they have an edge to them and are informed and targeted. If you get emails from people who clearly put there heart into writing it, I think it's at least worth a quick reply. You're not a celebrity. And how else do you expect someone to get into the industry without some cold emails or calls? As someone who just got their foot in the door, I can definitively say one works at least twice as hard outside the industry than when one gets a job. Have some respect for that nonpaid effort, I say. That said, one should always be building up a defined skillset concurrently.

edw519 16y ago
I agree with a couple of your points but I think you might be overreacting. You're probably right and if so, I apologize. I guess it's just my way of venting my frustration with so many people talking when they should be listening. To me, OP's post just seems like feeding fuel to that fire. I would never want to discourage anyone from becoming part of our community. It's just that some ways are much better than others. And how else do you expect someone to get into the industry without some cold emails or calls? Networking. Better to get out there without an agenda, meet people, and grow. Most of us would much rather meet someone and get to know them than to just delete another unsolicited email among hundreds of others. Whether you email, network, or do something else, here's the most important thing: have something of value to offer, and offer it. That will get you noticed. That said, one should always be building up a defined skillset concurrently. Definitely! This never ends.
- jsavimbi 16y ago
  "Networking." Absolutely right. Do you know how hard it is to find good potential hires? It's really fucking hard, costly and time-consuming. If you think you're doing someone a favor by dropping off your resume at their job-fair booth, you've got some things to learn. The best jobs are found via recommendation for a positions; better than that is to be recommended as a hire without there even being a position open with your specific skill or even a strategy in place on how to address that. Nobody is going to read your blog posts and come calling. (Unfortunately, some times they do for reasons unknown. Don't ask me why.) The only way to do that is to get out there and execute on your ideas, make friends with as many people as you can, respect them and yourself and yes, network your ass off, even if you aren't looking for a job. Show some chuptzah, create demand around yourself and get them thinking that if they don't float an offer out to you, someone else will.