Ask HN: Should I leave FAANG to join a startup?

Option 1a: realize work isn’t everything, do your hours, use the rest of your mental energy to do other things (kids, hobbies, etc).

I once worked for a small company acquired by a giant company, once MegaCorps true colors showed with the first round of layoffs, everyone’s attitude changed towards the job. It quickly changed from thing we’re doing together, to “Oh, it’s THAT now”.

I don’t know if you’re stuck in a similar, unenviable position where you see your employers true colors. You’re not going to work on what you want to at FAANG, and instead you see that the relationship is very transactional. You can learn to detach from decisions out of your control, accept the far from perfect, and go along for the ride.

I’m not saying this option is without significant downsides. You won’t grow much in your role, but it’s totally valid IMO.

Avoid 3 at all costs. These early stage startups have all the risks but none of the upside a cofounder typically gets. Ask them to show you the cap table. Typically, investors and founders will hold 80% and you will be lucky to get 1-2% of the company.

Start by doing 1. If you don’t enjoy hustling and marketing and selling yourself and your work, chances are you’ll have challenges starting a startup or joining one early. Learn and experiment this while you are at your current job.

Have been in your situation more than once. The itch to leave and do your own thing is extremely appealing. The grass is always greener on the other side. The following are some of the traps that I have encountered.

Having a good job and high income means your lifestyle becomes ever more expensive. It is very hard to cut back sufficiently to survive a year or two with no income. Can be done, though. Need to ruthlessly cut back on all expenses. Most likely downsizing your housing and transportation expectations.

The default state for startups is failure. So you need to ask yourself whether you can accept taking that risk. The current state of the economy means that its very hard to predict the conditions even a couple of months down the track.

With strong FAANG background and conmensurate skillset, you might want to consider working for a startup that has reached B (or even C) round funding. Although you might miss out on the early stage excitement, the future may be a bit more dependable.

I have found the productively working on a side-project for a long period leads to faster burn-out and/or lesser effectiveness in your current job which in turn can lead to adverse HR/management treatment.

Don't leave without a concrete goal and a timeline. What do you want to work on, with who, and why? Don't give up the pay and benefits until you can answer that, and make sure that you budget for N months/years out of work. Idealism doesn't always pay well.

IMHO, don't sweat the IP stuff to much, until you start spending a lot of off-hours time on a serious project (website, incorporation, etc). If you don't have a specific business plan, don't sweat it.

That might be an unpopular opinion, because it probably would leave you vulnerable in most at-will employment contracts, but as long as you don't take anything with you when you leave, big companies are unlikely to aggressively enforce anything.

And this should go without saying, but leave on good terms. Do right by the people who you work with and don't leave them holding any bags. It's the right thing to do, and you might want their recommendations if things go belly-up. Plus, part of the reason why the company is unlikely to go after you on technicalities is that they want to hire creative people like you in the future.

Every job gets dull over time, and we try to look for something new that is normal and will happen everywhere. You are in a unique situation at maybe the peak of compensation software devs will get (maybe not, who knows).

You could be set for life if you stay another couple of years. This is huge. You can start as many companies as you want after that.

I would grind it out and be set for life after and look for challenges outside work. Run an ultramarathon or learn to play the piano or whatever.

If going to a startup, do you have a desire to be the CTO, or a key contributor. If CTO, or top person in charge of the technology, you will learn a lot about how to run the company. If as a key contributor, it will depend on how many are on the team, as if you aren't working core with the founders themselves, it will usually feel like a normal job. Not that that is a bad thing, but just usually the reality.

Good gosh, you are my doppelganger. Let's at least meet and try to figure this one out. Twitter: @jnbrymn

If you're willing to take the risk + accept the low expected monetary value, I'd say (3) will definitely let you learn most about starting a startup and finding cofounders. To that end, IMO ideally find a startup with <5-10 people so that you can get in early and learn from the ground up.

On the subject of code ownership, many companies have an exclusion process. Don’t forget to look into that before giving up hope for personal projects.

You are in a fortunate and dis fortunate position, but I can only point you to the answer: you know the answer.

I don't think that working at a startup tells you anything about starting one. You're better off listening to entrepreneurship podcast, audiobooks, youtube, ycombinator blogposts, etc.

I also don't think working at FAANG is hurting you, as you can always find a cofounder through ycombinator "founder dating" or other networking events. (What about your university alumni network?)

They say to be successful as an entrepreneurship you need to give it 100%. And that's after finding an idea worth monetizing. Before might be the same. Do you have some cash saved up, and can you work full-time to find a side project that can become a startup (or sole proprietorship?)

> I don't think that working at a startup tells you anything about starting one. You're better off listening to entrepreneurship podcast, audiobooks, youtube, ycombinator blogposts, etc.

As someone who has started 6 companies and runs a business as a tech partner for startups, I can tell you that you have it exactly backwards.

There is a huge industry of people giving entrepreneurship advice, and almost all of it is a distraction from learning and practicing the actual skills required. The least effective people I meet are the ones who can't stop reading VC blogs, podcasts, and books.

Starting a successful company is mostly two things: 1) breaking free of analysis paralysis, and 2) excellent social skills.

Great social skills result in warm leads for customers, an ability to recruit (and lead) a great team, and -- if necessary -- closing a funding round quickly.

People who spend a lot of time consuming info about starting a company are typically people who are too risk averse for entrepreneurship, which is fine! Entrepreneurship is expensive gambling, statistically speaking. If there were a way to guarantee success, VCs would make good returns (they don't) and book authors would be out starting companies instead of writing books.