4 ms·
Yes, employee #1 is almost always the worst-off person in the company. They get to work like a founder, without the financial benefits. I've been there twice; i
by gamble 15y ago
Yes, employee #1 is almost always the worst-off person in the company. They get to work like a founder, without the financial benefits. I've been there twice; it isn't a lot of fun.
Either found or join a company that has funding.
- davidst 15y agoThere's another perspective that is equally true: Employee #1 is getting paid to see how a startup is created, struggles, pivots, pivots again, and eventually turns into a viable business. There is no better way to prepare yourself to be a founder than to be an early employee in a startup.
- esk 15y agoI definitely understand where you are coming from (and I didn't downvote you), but I have to disagree. That employee (we'll call her Sarah) isn't being paid to see how a startup is created; she's paying to see how a startup is created. She's paying heavily. She's losing money in the form of a lower salary compared to equivalent jobs, and she's losing money in the form of losing free-time compared to equivalent jobs. Sometimes, that payment is very worth it. But it's a payment.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- johnyzee 15y agoNot to mention that employee #1, if an engineer, is probably chained to the engine block (figuratively), toiling with keeping the machines running. He/she most likely remains in the dark when it comes to the business development and deal making that are all important for succeeding as a startup.
- gamble 15y agoExactly. This is my biggest problem with the "earning versus learning" philosophy. Both times I was employee #1 the founders had no interest in sharing any aspect of the business side of the company. I was there to build the product; anything else was a distraction.
- Michiel 15y agoIsn't it normally that employee number 1 get's some stock options?
- wnight 15y agoEmployees are less likely to make money from stock options than actors are to make a cut of net profit. If you don't get the same type of stock as the VCs, and under all the same conditions, it's worth pennies on the dollar at best and likely simply zero.