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I started my career as a founder in the dot com boom, hiring engineers and doing everything in the stack. Founded more companies then eventually decided to leav

I started my career as a founder in the dot com boom, hiring engineers and doing everything in the stack. Founded more companies then eventually decided to leave the founder game and went to get a role as an employee about 5 years ago. Recruiters had no idea what to do with me. I've been working as a senior IC with increasing responsibilities, but my founder experience seems to be a negative. Half the time during intro calls they didn't even read that far down my resume. Only early stage startups seem to value the experience at all, and even then it tends to be outweighed by my age. It's frustrating, but I think I will try the advice from that other post about chopping off everything but my last 5 years of experience. People want simple narratives.

nostrademons 3y ago
Depends on the company. 2000s-Google valued former founders very highly - I was one, as was my manager, as were about a half dozen of my coworkers. Certain teams within Google still do - we've got 4 indie app developers on my team in Play. Reportedly Facebook also values ex-founders highly (or did during their growth phase, I dunno if they still do), and Coinbase seemed very happy to pick up another crypto-adjacent founder when I applied. On the flip side, Apple offered me a position as a retail sales associate, Stripe seemed to want implementors that didn't ask questions, and Netflix didn't know what to do with me. I've found that what the recruitment process is looking for is a pretty good filter for the type of environment that you'd want to work in, though. If you're the type of personality who was a founder for many years, you probably will not be happy in an environment where you're asked to put your head down and do what your manager tells you.
robador 3y ago
I was in a similar position, founder/business owner of about 20 years turned employee about 5 years ago. I went on to (technical) product management and that's worked out really well for me, being promoted twice in 3 years. My experience is really beneficial, with little effort I feel like I'm running circles around peers and even higher-ups who lack experience. I'm fortunate to be in a company which values this.

nostrademons 3y ago

Depends on the company. 2000s-Google valued former founders very highly - I was one, as was my manager, as were about a half dozen of my coworkers. Certain teams within Google still do - we've got 4 indie app developers on my team in Play. Reportedly Facebook also values ex-founders highly (or did during their growth phase, I dunno if they still do), and Coinbase seemed very happy to pick up another crypto-adjacent founder when I applied. On the flip side, Apple offered me a position as a retail sales associate, Stripe seemed to want implementors that didn't ask questions, and Netflix didn't know what to do with me. I've found that what the recruitment process is looking for is a pretty good filter for the type of environment that you'd want to work in, though. If you're the type of personality who was a founder for many years, you probably will not be happy in an environment where you're asked to put your head down and do what your manager tells you.

robador 3y ago

I was in a similar position, founder/business owner of about 20 years turned employee about 5 years ago. I went on to (technical) product management and that's worked out really well for me, being promoted twice in 3 years. My experience is really beneficial, with little effort I feel like I'm running circles around peers and even higher-ups who lack experience. I'm fortunate to be in a company which values this.