How to save money running a startup | Hacker News Reader

How to save money running a startup

calacanis.com

4 pointsknightinblue3 comments

This list really started on a weird note. First of all, are there any small startups (in the tech sector) that immediately hire a big I.T. department? And whhich I.T. department is just doing virus cleanups and software installs, and thus would be (allegedly) out of work once Macs are everywhere.

But never mind the fanboy start, it's items like 3, 10, 11, 12 that bother me. Don't let your developers out of the room, ride them hard for the maximum amount of time possible. This is basically the startup versions of the "9 women bearing baby in 1 month" myth. A developer who works twice as long isn't twice as productive. If you manage burnt out people, you'll sell ashes.

I agree. What tips would suggest instead?

I think it really depends on what kind of startup you're running. Three people meeting in coffee shops is different from someone who got a lot of venture capital from the start and has the need for a pretty large infrastructure.

One mistake I often hear about in startups is that they avoid getting sysadmins for way too long. Yes, you're a bunch of programmers, you have the technical affinity/skills. Yes, your application is "in the cloud". It's still not a good idea to waste time with OS issues of your servers, proper firewalls, your LAN's Cisco router/firewall etc.

And rather than trying to coax the most amount of hours out of your people, try to get the maximum creativity out of them. Cheap desks are ok. A gray office isn't. And if the word "them" is ever used for a department or team within your company, it's bad – unless we're talking about a foosball league. You don't need corporate retreats to get the team spirit flowing. Transparent management, company activities, going out for a drink together, an internal blog…

Be open to hire people from different backgrounds. A room full of 20-somethings might appear to be pretty harmonious, as they often have similar interests and can argue about the same TV shows, but you might get more mileage out of the occasional "I remember doing something similar in a Cobol application in the late '80s" story.

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