4 ms·

I applied for W22, got interviewed and was rejected. The rejection email was quite thoughtful and helpful. I applied twice after that but didn’t get an intervi

by Oras 2y ago

I applied for W22, got interviewed and was rejected. The rejection email was quite thoughtful and helpful. I applied twice after that but didn’t get an interview. Fingers crossed for this one. Why I’m applying? 1. Been a daily reader for HN for the last 10 years. Seen companies going from “Launch HN” to be a hugely successful within years. 2. As I’m not from the US, getting accepted would mean I will have at least warm intros to US VCs and build a good network. 3. Being through the YC school back in 2021, then bootstrapping for a year and a half, then joining another startup as a CTO, I started realizing how good YC advice is. Some people like me had to go through it practically to understand the value of YC videos.

sroussey 2y ago
“Joining another startup as CTO” Here is what that means to my ears: 1) I joined as cofounder. Cofounder can and do take whatever title they want. Great! 2) I joined at CTO because there are 500 engineers and it needs an office of the CTO. Let’s not call it a startup, and YC has nothing to offer you. Great! 3) I joined a small startup and they gave me the CTO title. Yikes! Bad signal. Don’t have much confidence in the CEO after hearing that and I assume the company will fold. Or if it succeeds—prepare to be fired. No room to hire above you. Even as a VP, a CEO could hire a CTO. But even better if no title inflation at all. No one like a demotion, so if you aren’t perfect then you are gone. And you will take a lot of (now dead) equity with you. I guess YC would teach you these things…
- moomoo11 2y ago
  Chill
  - sroussey 2y ago
    Ok, true. But also, some of these things seem like secret knowledge, but shouldn’t be.
- jhgvhfe 2y ago
  [dead]
- mikepurvis 2y ago
  Not that big a deal to correct the inflation later. I joined a startup fourteen years ago as the first employee and it was initially “software architect” on my business cards; later that was revised down to senior engineer when an actual ladder was put in place.
  - sroussey 2y ago
    For a management and executive position, it is a bit more perilous. A hired CTO at a startup is often really a tech lead. Not always. Better to use a vague “head of xyz” in such cases. Vague and easily transformed. You see second and third time founders do that. Title inflation is fun and cheaper than cash. But not really transferable. For example, I had a friend, which was a founder CTO and a team of 15 and wanted to be a director at Facebook. I asked him how he would deal with leveling questions for other managers and their engineers. His company hadn’t implemented ladders yet (no need at that size) and had no idea what I was talking about.
    - dartos 2y ago
      I also have no idea what you’re talking about. (Im a senior software dev) What are leveling questions and ladders?
      - red-iron-pine 2y ago
        how do you structure compensation and seniority -- and how do you define the skillsets and experience that are required to sit in those levels? and then how do you hire / fire / promote / retain those people? when you're working at the VP and CTO level of a big org that's something you think about. especially when you're transitioning from a small startup where everyone's title is made up, to a 100-300+ body org with real structure and organization.
      - sroussey 2y ago
        Software engineer II, for example. It’s a title and salary range (sometimes with an adjustment for location). A leveling question is a promotion question: you believe that you deserve to be at a different level and this a different pay range. A additional wrinkle: When a company initially does leveling, there is a lot of jockeying for the right one, and not everyone may quite fit (a lower level than your salary implies).

by Oras 2y ago

sroussey 2y ago

“Joining another startup as CTO” Here is what that means to my ears: 1) I joined as cofounder. Cofounder can and do take whatever title they want. Great! 2) I joined at CTO because there are 500 engineers and it needs an office of the CTO. Let’s not call it a startup, and YC has nothing to offer you. Great! 3) I joined a small startup and they gave me the CTO title. Yikes! Bad signal. Don’t have much confidence in the CEO after hearing that and I assume the company will fold. Or if it succeeds—prepare to be fired. No room to hire above you. Even as a VP, a CEO could hire a CTO. But even better if no title inflation at all. No one like a demotion, so if you aren’t perfect then you are gone. And you will take a lot of (now dead) equity with you. I guess YC would teach you these things…

moomoo11 2y ago
Chill
- sroussey 2y ago
  Ok, true. But also, some of these things seem like secret knowledge, but shouldn’t be.
jhgvhfe 2y ago
[dead]
mikepurvis 2y ago
Not that big a deal to correct the inflation later. I joined a startup fourteen years ago as the first employee and it was initially “software architect” on my business cards; later that was revised down to senior engineer when an actual ladder was put in place.
- sroussey 2y ago
  For a management and executive position, it is a bit more perilous. A hired CTO at a startup is often really a tech lead. Not always. Better to use a vague “head of xyz” in such cases. Vague and easily transformed. You see second and third time founders do that. Title inflation is fun and cheaper than cash. But not really transferable. For example, I had a friend, which was a founder CTO and a team of 15 and wanted to be a director at Facebook. I asked him how he would deal with leveling questions for other managers and their engineers. His company hadn’t implemented ladders yet (no need at that size) and had no idea what I was talking about.
  - dartos 2y ago
    I also have no idea what you’re talking about. (Im a senior software dev) What are leveling questions and ladders?
    - red-iron-pine 2y ago
      how do you structure compensation and seniority -- and how do you define the skillsets and experience that are required to sit in those levels? and then how do you hire / fire / promote / retain those people? when you're working at the VP and CTO level of a big org that's something you think about. especially when you're transitioning from a small startup where everyone's title is made up, to a 100-300+ body org with real structure and organization.
    - sroussey 2y ago
      Software engineer II, for example. It’s a title and salary range (sometimes with an adjustment for location). A leveling question is a promotion question: you believe that you deserve to be at a different level and this a different pay range. A additional wrinkle: When a company initially does leveling, there is a lot of jockeying for the right one, and not everyone may quite fit (a lower level than your salary implies).