Ask HN: Startup is going under, what to do now

"little embarrassed applying to places with a startup no one has heard of that failed"

Don't do this. You worked at a startup which went under and this is expected based on stats (95% of startups fail etc). Be proud of what you learned over 4 years there. The brand or name doesn't matter. If you solved real problems and 4 years is a decent amount of time, any startup would appreciate it.

More than being proud of what you've learned: take the time to understand, catalog, and present what you've learned. If you're hoping to interview well, you should be an expert in explaining what you bring to the table. Giving that information as a concise explanation requires premeditation.

Interview questions make for a great synthesis exercise in considering your recent achievements, and doubly so if you're interviewing soon.

Funny you say this, because I actually cite my failed start-ups when talking about my resume when chatting with bigger companies. It provides a uniqueness that you are a risk taker and you should use that narrative to your advantage to stick out separately from other candidates who may have a more traditional background.

In the US at least I think people understand (even outside the startup culture) that if you’ve worked for a few startups you have worked for at least one that went under and there is no shame in that.

I would not feel so bad about not writing unit tests, that is a common sin, and I have also seen places that wrote tests but didn’t attain a positive balance of costs and benefits thanks to test-drive design deformation, waiting waiting waiting for tests to finish running and other problems. The person who suffered through the latter and never got any insight into it scares me more.

Your tough decision has to do with timing. “Big Tech” and some firms have been laying off lately but I think right now most normal firms are still hiring. You would be competing with those people but I see many of them are self-funding startups that might be your next employer. VCs are pulling back, particularly from late stage boondoggles like Uber, but there has to be a rush for A.I. startups right now.

The Fed is still struggling with inflation and may feel the need to raise interest rates more and it is possible (though not certain) that the general economy will be much worse in six months. If you believe that, you might feel a since of urgency to get your next job now.

Myself if I was expecting a job hunt in 6 months to 6 years I would get into side projects and blogging, that can get recruiters calling such that you don’t have to deal with the ‘meat market’ aspects of sending applications, struggling with interviews, etc.

No employer cares about what the company was that you used to work at, they only care what skills/experience/accomplishments you have made there. Don’t be embarrassed.

Just get the resume spiffed up. Unless the perfect opportunity arises, I would see if you could wait it out and take a severance/unemployment so you can put 100% of your focus into your job search rather than dealing with your day job and job hunt simultaneously.

>they only care what skills/experience/accomplishments you have made there

they only care what skills/experience/accomplishments you can bring to the table compared to other applicants.

Edit.

I should add, that during times like this, interviews should be seen as intelligence gathering exercises.

I've seen companies employee people just to pump them for contacts and knowledge of procedures or processes before laying them off within the trial period with no real intention of employing them.

So the smart employee will drip this sort of info after the trial period, they dont hand all their previous knowledge over on day 1.

And this can happen to anyone at any level because everyone gets exposed to confidential knowledge which is advantageous , especially if working in the same business sectors.

Likewise some companies will have major problems they cant solve or holding back the company, so getting in staff from rival businesses is an opportunity to solve what existing staff cant, which can increase the capital or leverage of new staff.

These situations are highly fluid times, always have a contingency because some events will be out of some peoples control.

I'd recommend applying to the postings on HN's Who's Hiring thread, especially if you can talk with the founder. Since they will gain value from hearing of your past four year's experience that might be a good opportunity to showcase your fit, since you have been in the startup trenches very recently.

Procrastination is not going to make anything easier. You have nothing to gain by waiting around for something to happen.

Good news is that the job market is still incredibly tight by historical standards. A job search is never the funnest thing to do, but you'll probably be pleasantly surprised and how many companies take an interest in you.