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First, kudos for doing what every one of us should do i.e. value our own time. It is amazing to see a lot of people who just don't value their time. This menta

First, kudos for doing what every one of us should do i.e. value our own time. It is amazing to see a lot of people who just don't value their time. This mentality that somehow sitting in office for long hours and cranking shit out is just so horrible. I really believe that this has to do a lot with the individual employee/person rather than just management. Yes, I am not counting out the pointy haired bosses and all but to a great extent, it is up to you, the employee, to dictate how long will you be working on a given day. Sure, some of us love sitting in office because we probably have nothing better to do (been there) but learning to value your time is really underrated. People, learn to value your own time and you will suddenly see how everyone else around you respects you for that. /rant Now, just to add the other side, creating value is a lot more than spending x hours in office. Like you said, you designed a major component of the app which is what matters. Yes, there may be days when you want to crank that stuff out like there is no tomorrow because you are excited about it, go for it. And yes, go work on some weekends if needed for the team (release/critical fix etc). Take one for the team but do it wisely. Let everyone know that you are willing to raise your hand but you are not a doormat. In your case, since are you doing the right thing, your company does not deserve you and based on what you said, they already don't care about you. So like everyone else is saying and you know the answer anyway, find something better and move on.

jhonovich 13y ago
His company does not deserve him? The guy, by his own admission, is more focused on his own company that he works on nights and weekends. Why would any startup want a guy like that unless he was radically better than everyone else?
- jason_slack 13y ago
  He doesn't say he is more focused on his own company though... He does say that he wants to spend his free evening and weekend time working on his own goals versus spending those extra hours for his boss, unpaid....
- Dewie 13y ago
  OP puts in the hours that the job requires of him, and doesn't seem to slack off when doing it. Does the company really deserve anything more than that?
- RyanZAG 13y ago
  If you've stopped to look around you'd notice there is a dire shortage of good developers who want to work for others. Nearly all the good developers I know work on side project/hopeful businesses in their spare time. It's almost a mark of a good creative developer that he has those kind of side projects. A startup would want a guy like him because a startup needs to grow rapidly to justify existing in the first place and a good developer will easily justify their position on a team. If the OP is being truthful, he designed the very product the entire startup is based on. So to answer your question - the startup would want a guy like him because there might not be a startup without him. Obviously if he's no longer worth his salary then the startup needs to let him go. That decision has absolutely nothing to do with the number of hours he works and everything to do with whether his benefit to the company justifies his cost.
  - EC1 13y ago
    > If the OP is being truthful, he designed the very product the entire startup is based on. Hell yes I did. Entire UI. Coded it too. 45K, no benefits, nothing, just 1400/two weeks after taxes.
    - kotakota 13y ago
      Why would you stay there for 45k and no benifits? 45k/year is a slap in the face for any decent developer.
      - EC1 13y ago
        How on earth do I find another job? I have never once gotten a reply from another company when applying. I'm a university dropout who is 21. Nobody wants to hire me. I'm utilizing like maybe 25% of my potential, so I started my own company. I'd love some help with this. There's so many companies I want to reply to but I'm scared.
        kotakota 13y ago
        Do you contribute to open source? Do you go to user groups? Do you network with other professionals? If you do any of those and are a competent developer getting offers should be easy. Most good developers who network even just a little bit get contacted by recruiters fairly regularly. On the other hand if you are not a strong developer no matter how much you network no one is going to contact you about open positions at their company.
- 6d0debc071 13y ago
  Why would they care what he does in his free time unless they didn't expect it to be His Time? That's the real question here. And if they're going to have that sort of expectation - that it not be his time - then not being upfront about it is dishonest; an attempt to get someone in and then take advantage of them. No wonder they didn't get a good cultural fit if they were so dishonest that the poor guy's just figuring out how to deal with it now.
rdudek 13y ago
I totally agree with this comment. Being able to value your time is a crucial life skill. Pulling in some overtime hours once in a while is a good thing. Being expected to do so every week is a toxic thing. Been there, done that. Start looking elsewhere while you still have a job, it's so much easier to do so and less pressure during interviews.

jhonovich 13y ago

His company does not deserve him? The guy, by his own admission, is more focused on his own company that he works on nights and weekends. Why would any startup want a guy like that unless he was radically better than everyone else?

jason_slack 13y ago
He doesn't say he is more focused on his own company though... He does say that he wants to spend his free evening and weekend time working on his own goals versus spending those extra hours for his boss, unpaid....
Dewie 13y ago
OP puts in the hours that the job requires of him, and doesn't seem to slack off when doing it. Does the company really deserve anything more than that?
RyanZAG 13y ago
If you've stopped to look around you'd notice there is a dire shortage of good developers who want to work for others. Nearly all the good developers I know work on side project/hopeful businesses in their spare time. It's almost a mark of a good creative developer that he has those kind of side projects. A startup would want a guy like him because a startup needs to grow rapidly to justify existing in the first place and a good developer will easily justify their position on a team. If the OP is being truthful, he designed the very product the entire startup is based on. So to answer your question - the startup would want a guy like him because there might not be a startup without him. Obviously if he's no longer worth his salary then the startup needs to let him go. That decision has absolutely nothing to do with the number of hours he works and everything to do with whether his benefit to the company justifies his cost.
- EC1 13y ago
  > If the OP is being truthful, he designed the very product the entire startup is based on. Hell yes I did. Entire UI. Coded it too. 45K, no benefits, nothing, just 1400/two weeks after taxes.
  - kotakota 13y ago
    Why would you stay there for 45k and no benifits? 45k/year is a slap in the face for any decent developer.
    - EC1 13y ago
      How on earth do I find another job? I have never once gotten a reply from another company when applying. I'm a university dropout who is 21. Nobody wants to hire me. I'm utilizing like maybe 25% of my potential, so I started my own company. I'd love some help with this. There's so many companies I want to reply to but I'm scared.
      - kotakota 13y ago
        Do you contribute to open source? Do you go to user groups? Do you network with other professionals? If you do any of those and are a competent developer getting offers should be easy. Most good developers who network even just a little bit get contacted by recruiters fairly regularly. On the other hand if you are not a strong developer no matter how much you network no one is going to contact you about open positions at their company.
6d0debc071 13y ago
Why would they care what he does in his free time unless they didn't expect it to be His Time? That's the real question here. And if they're going to have that sort of expectation - that it not be his time - then not being upfront about it is dishonest; an attempt to get someone in and then take advantage of them. No wonder they didn't get a good cultural fit if they were so dishonest that the poor guy's just figuring out how to deal with it now.

rdudek 13y ago

I totally agree with this comment. Being able to value your time is a crucial life skill. Pulling in some overtime hours once in a while is a good thing. Being expected to do so every week is a toxic thing. Been there, done that. Start looking elsewhere while you still have a job, it's so much easier to do so and less pressure during interviews.