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Ask HN: Questions to Ask Before Joining a Startup

4 points by DanielRibeiro 15y ago

Which ones should one make?

kloncks 15y ago
Startups are significant investment. Are you prepared to undertake that? There's a lot of sacrifices to be made to be successful. And it really is a hard process to go through. Ask yourself that. As for asking others, you should ensure that you will get a say and respected in the startup. Make sure that you like the people - you'll be hanging out a lot with them - and the idea, even if it's subject to change. You should be passionate about it. Don't fret about the small details. People often fight about equity split numbers, for example. But at the end of the day, startups are bimodal; you're either going to make bank or nothing at all. A few percents really won't matter at the end. If you love the product, the team, your role, and you're personally prepared to go through hell for all that...come on board.
mlinsey 15y ago
When you join a startup, you are trading potential salary (from a big company) for equity. That means you're making an investment, and you should ask all the normal questions an investor would ask: what is the company vision, what's the background of the founders, has the team demonstrated an ability to execute, how big is the market, how does the startup shape up vs. it's competitors, what is the current funding situation, etc. On top of that, you still should ask all the questions you would of any employer: about the work, making sure you get along with the team, stuff like that.
DanielRibeiro 15y ago
A few other links which I found useful: http://secondverse.tumblr.com/post/5840343627/so-you-want-to-join-a-startup http://secondverse.tumblr.com/post/5840343627/so-you-want-to... http://onstartups.com/tabid/3339/bid/122/Joining-A-Startup-Top-6-Questions-You-Should-Ask.aspx http://onstartups.com/tabid/3339/bid/122/Joining-A-Startup-T... http://www.careerrocketeer.com/2011/03/5-questions-to-ask-before-joining-a-startup.html http://www.careerrocketeer.com/2011/03/5-questions-to-ask-be... http://www.mint.com/blog/how-to/guy-kawasaki-startup-tips/ http://www.mint.com/blog/how-to/guy-kawasaki-startup-tips/

4 points by DanielRibeiro 15y ago

Which ones should one make?

Startups are significant investment. Are you prepared to undertake that? There's a lot of sacrifices to be made to be successful. And it really is a hard process to go through. Ask yourself that. As for asking others, you should ensure that you will get a say and respected in the startup. Make sure that you like the people - you'll be hanging out a lot with them - and the idea, even if it's subject to change. You should be passionate about it. Don't fret about the small details. People often fight about equity split numbers, for example. But at the end of the day, startups are bimodal; you're either going to make bank or nothing at all. A few percents really won't matter at the end. If you love the product, the team, your role, and you're personally prepared to go through hell for all that...come on board.

mlinsey 15y ago

When you join a startup, you are trading potential salary (from a big company) for equity. That means you're making an investment, and you should ask all the normal questions an investor would ask: what is the company vision, what's the background of the founders, has the team demonstrated an ability to execute, how big is the market, how does the startup shape up vs. it's competitors, what is the current funding situation, etc. On top of that, you still should ask all the questions you would of any employer: about the work, making sure you get along with the team, stuff like that.

DanielRibeiro 15y ago

A few other links which I found useful: http://secondverse.tumblr.com/post/5840343627/so-you-want-to-join-a-startup http://secondverse.tumblr.com/post/5840343627/so-you-want-to... http://onstartups.com/tabid/3339/bid/122/Joining-A-Startup-Top-6-Questions-You-Should-Ask.aspx http://onstartups.com/tabid/3339/bid/122/Joining-A-Startup-T... http://www.careerrocketeer.com/2011/03/5-questions-to-ask-before-joining-a-startup.html http://www.careerrocketeer.com/2011/03/5-questions-to-ask-be... http://www.mint.com/blog/how-to/guy-kawasaki-startup-tips/ http://www.mint.com/blog/how-to/guy-kawasaki-startup-tips/