Why Engineers Are Better Off Joining Startups | Hacker News Reader

Why Engineers Are Better Off Joining Startups

techcrunch.com

16 pointsatularora17 comments

TFA discusses why engineers are better off joining a startup rather then some bigco.

Why not take it further, and explain why joining a startup is better starting one?

> why joining a startup is better starting one?

To answer your question, I think this personal story from YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley is valuable.

> But the executive team made up for nonmastery of details with unwavering vision, which inspired the troops. At his San Bruno, Calif., office, YouTube CEO Hurley remembers his PayPal days as an education in business. When he arrived in California with a degree in art from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, building a successful company seemed like something other people did.

"You never think it could happen to you," says Hurley. "But seeing Peter and Max and the guys come up with ideas and seeing how to make things work gave me a lot of insight. You may not have a business degree, but you see how to put the process into effect. The experience helped me realize the payoff of being involved in a startup."

http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/13/magazines/fortune/paypal_maf...

A lot of these discussions gloss over the fact that engineers can have wildly different personalities and life circumstances. At least in SV where all engineers seem aware of their opportunities to start a business, work at startupco, or work at bigco, they efficiently sort themselves into the buckets they should be in.

... and interests. If you're in software there's a lot more flexibility but if you're going to build something with complex electronics or even mechanical elements you may be better off at a larger or even huge company.

I would say the only startup worth working on is your own.

Working at someone else's startup is a recipe for getting exploited - overworked and underpaid. And the worst thing about it is that it's all couched in an atmosphere of guilt trips and taking-it-for-the-team.

Perhaps there are exceptions. I just haven't seen any.

I'd rather work for The Man in my day job in a cold corporate environment where everything is explicit from the get-go, get well paid for it and crank out code for my own startup in my free time.

> I'd rather work for The Man in my day job in a cold corporate environment where everything is explicit from the get-go, get well paid for it and crank out code for my own startup in my free time.

I agree (for now).

Cautionary, related thread:

"Does my company have IP rights to the stuff I do in my spare time?"

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2208056

Questions about IP rights for side projects only becomes an issue if your outside work is traceable to you. There's not much discussion in that thread of flying under the radar.

I don't know that flying under the radar is a sound legal or business strategy (at least not forever).

Here are some stats:

Small business failure rates 45% Startup Failure rates 95%

The actual path is target starting very small but scalable small business than use that base to implement the startup.

The big problem is that self interest towards being debt free and controlling one's future is the opposite of what it takes to long-term R&D startup shots..

Europe got the balance wrong in over-guaranteeing workers rights and worth.

But what would be the right balance?

Do you have any citations for those stats?

I totally agree! I'd even go one step further and say that you'll be "overworked and underpaid" even at your own start-up.

I just had that. No fun! Right now I am going back to a regular day job. And I'm actually looking forward to it.

I'm still going to work on new projects ... but I'll do that in my spare-time also.

Absolutely. But there's something about being "overworked and underpaid" on your own startup that's easier to stomach.

Well put.

It is also possible and very common to be self-exploited, overworked and underpaid at your own startup. And depending on the exit of your startup vs the exit of someone else's startup, and the % you get from the total of outstanding shares in both cases, you might be better off joining a startup than working on your own.

And as the article points out it's getting less risky working for a startup, while working on your own you might need to spend your savings on it.

There's something about the feeling of self-determination - directing your own fate - that makes the hard work of your own startup more tolerable, even if, from a mathematical standpoint, you would profit more from working for someone else.

And, sure, it might be getting less risky to work for (someone else's) startup. But I don't think the culture of the startup work environment has changed much recently with respect to the unfettered expectations of your work output and willingness to self-sacrifice for the "larger cause" - regardless of how counter-productive that self-sacrifice may actually be.

I agree, but working for the startup of someone else you might learn from an awesome team that will prepare you for one day having your own startup. This was the advice of D'Angelo, from Quora, at the last Startup School.

I think it all depends on how prepared you are. If you think you have already learned enough, then go for it.

So, good luck with your startup! :)

I guess it depends where you are in life and how valuable a potential learning experience with a good team might be for you.

My feeling is there is no greater motivator for learning than when the problems you face may have a direct bearing on your own financial well-being and the life or death of your own startup.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com