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> I believe if you want the best chance of succeeding as a founder, first join an existing high-growth start-up where you can learn what good looks like, before

> I believe if you want the best chance of succeeding as a founder, first join an existing high-growth start-up where you can learn what good looks like, before you start something yourself. We're all entitled to our beliefs, but this seems very specific to me. Why doe sit have to be "high-growth"? What if your startup isn't meant to be "high-growth"? Why do you specifically have to work at a startup? I believe getting some work experience is a good idea, mostly just because if you want to put other people's livelihood in your hands, one should probably mature a bit. Additionally, this advice falls into the classic trap of "I did this, and therefore I think everyone else should". The advice could be true, or it could not, there is no way of knowing, so at the end of the day, the value of such advice is pretty low, IMO.

lawrjone 4y ago
Specifically, high growth is useful because you can spend a few years there and get experience of doing many things at several different company sizes. It means you get several opportunities to learn how to do a specific thing, and see how different attempts yield different results. At a company that grows more slowly you'll need to revisit things less frequently, which reduces your opportunity to learn. You're right though, I don't have experience doing things other than what I've done. I can only speak to how useful my experience has been when going back to very early stage as a first employee, which has a lot of overlap with founder. And in that sense, I'm continually thankful I have the experience I do in my current position. I think it means I'm materially more impactful, and I can only imagine performing significantly worse without it.
- sausagefeet 4y ago
  > You're right though, I don't have experience doing things other than what I've done. I can only speak to how useful my experience has been when going back to very early stage as a first employee, which has a lot of overlap with founder. I think you're missing the critique: you don't know how useful your experience has been just because you experienced it. This is why systematic studies are necessary: to collate a lot of experiences to see what works and what doesn't (and even those are hard).
  - lawrjone 4y ago
    Totally accept this as a critique of the article! I think the content is still useful, though. Especially as it gives some examples of the type of challenge that appear routinely when scaling a company, and why experience seeing this before can help you avoid similar mistakes if you ever start your own thing. I'd personally love to see people write competing posts from other angles, even if they too will be limited by the author's own experience. It would be great to hear what type of stuff you can learn from working at a large corporation was particularly useful when starting a company. I'd read that in a heartbeat!
tsss 4y ago
Because startup companies are by definition high-growth. The term has become significantly overused by clueless journalists and business types looking to pad their resumes with buzzwords.
PeterisP 4y ago
The needs of a startup are quite different than (and often conflicting or opposite to) the needs of a stable, large company. So if you have learned "what good looks like" elsewhere and have no first-hand experience in a high-growth environment, then you as a founder may be prone to decisions that are a poor fit in the context of a startup, which by definition is a high-growth. Launching an "ordinary" (i.e. non-high-growth) new business in an established niche will have much more overlap with previous work experience at some corporation than trying to get product-market fit for a startup.
- sausagefeet 4y ago
  Let's take it as a given that the needs of a startup are different from a stable, large company. That doesn't mean working at a startup is the best way to learn how to make your own startup. You could work at a company that is seriously dysfunctional and learn things you shouldn't. You could work at a company that just fell into amazing success and not learn anything that applies to the startup you'll make.

lawrjone 4y ago

Specifically, high growth is useful because you can spend a few years there and get experience of doing many things at several different company sizes. It means you get several opportunities to learn how to do a specific thing, and see how different attempts yield different results. At a company that grows more slowly you'll need to revisit things less frequently, which reduces your opportunity to learn. You're right though, I don't have experience doing things other than what I've done. I can only speak to how useful my experience has been when going back to very early stage as a first employee, which has a lot of overlap with founder. And in that sense, I'm continually thankful I have the experience I do in my current position. I think it means I'm materially more impactful, and I can only imagine performing significantly worse without it.

sausagefeet 4y ago
> You're right though, I don't have experience doing things other than what I've done. I can only speak to how useful my experience has been when going back to very early stage as a first employee, which has a lot of overlap with founder. I think you're missing the critique: you don't know how useful your experience has been just because you experienced it. This is why systematic studies are necessary: to collate a lot of experiences to see what works and what doesn't (and even those are hard).
- lawrjone 4y ago
  Totally accept this as a critique of the article! I think the content is still useful, though. Especially as it gives some examples of the type of challenge that appear routinely when scaling a company, and why experience seeing this before can help you avoid similar mistakes if you ever start your own thing. I'd personally love to see people write competing posts from other angles, even if they too will be limited by the author's own experience. It would be great to hear what type of stuff you can learn from working at a large corporation was particularly useful when starting a company. I'd read that in a heartbeat!

tsss 4y ago

Because startup companies are by definition high-growth. The term has become significantly overused by clueless journalists and business types looking to pad their resumes with buzzwords.

PeterisP 4y ago

The needs of a startup are quite different than (and often conflicting or opposite to) the needs of a stable, large company. So if you have learned "what good looks like" elsewhere and have no first-hand experience in a high-growth environment, then you as a founder may be prone to decisions that are a poor fit in the context of a startup, which by definition is a high-growth. Launching an "ordinary" (i.e. non-high-growth) new business in an established niche will have much more overlap with previous work experience at some corporation than trying to get product-market fit for a startup.

sausagefeet 4y ago
Let's take it as a given that the needs of a startup are different from a stable, large company. That doesn't mean working at a startup is the best way to learn how to make your own startup. You could work at a company that is seriously dysfunctional and learn things you shouldn't. You could work at a company that just fell into amazing success and not learn anything that applies to the startup you'll make.