Joining a startup

[delta0]

A bit about me. I’ve been working in engineering and tech for around 17 years now. Last year I was approached by a startup looking for a CEO/CTO. They are band of experts that are looking to turn their ideas into a product. Whilst I’m not a product manager I am very good at developing ideas and turning them into highly viable prototypes. This is basically my role at the moment.

The good part is I was also approached by a VC who was the one that recommended me to take this role. The area they are working in is exciting and in my domain of expertise as well.

The bad part is the usual giving up a stable job that pays well. I have good amounts of savings but those I want to make sure they are left to grow towards my FIRE number. So I need to make sure I’m at least paid enough to cover my expenses which are a bit silly at the moment due to combination of living costs, mortgage and nursery. Basically nearly £75k I need after tax. My wife works which helps a bit on that. We are negotiating on pay so this opportunity may not work out if they can’t come in with something that covers my day to day costs. If it was 2 years from now I would have no nursery costs and I think I will have cleared my mortgage in my current job so living costs come down. I’m weighing up whether I should just hold on for this as things become basically risk free from then.

Anyway back to the point of the thread. Has anyone else been in this sort of position? How did it go? Any advice?

 

[delta0]

What is on the table in terms of base / equity / future benefits such as performance related bonuses etc? Makes a big difference knowing these things!

At the moment the details are not there on that. This is going to be a major factor in this decision. Assuming this is satisfactory then knowing more about what people’s experiences are who have done this kind of thing before would be great. I would be jumping out of corporate life into this role which has a lot of unknowns for me.

 

[delta0]

How long has the start up been operational? How many employees do they have?

They have 4 employees. There are some advisors as well with one from a very big player in the industry who I know. They have been doing this for about a year. The employees are mostly researchers with an academic background.

 

[delta0]

only you would know the answer. , if you are living a comfortable life with your current job and salary, I would personally stick with it unless you absolutely hate it . a year is too early for a start up in my opinion as there’s still a lot of risk involved of them going under

It has its ups and downs but otherwise considering the security it gives in a few years there is a strong case to stay. I do expect I will do the startup thing eventually. I’ve been fortunate enough to deal with identifying startups for potential acquisition so I have a good idea of what needs to be done. In a few years the risk won’t matter but right now it does unless I want to eat into savings during the bad times.

Id want to know who funds them (are they solid investors), the stage of that funding (probably just some seed cash at this stage, maybe series A with VC in the mix) and plans for future funding, growth plans and their runway based on their current burn rate (how much they have to go at current burn rate). Vital to understand this if you are moving from a secure job and don't be taken in by the "when we sell" plans. Who is the key stakeholder, what culture does he/she seek to create and frankly, do you trust them.

I would not sell yourself cheap, if you need 75K you really need 100K and I would also want some protection, so 6 months of notice for the risk of stepping out of security. Don't take the mindset of "I'm sharing a risk with my fellow share holders" because you are at different points of the journey. I'd want to know the equity of the current employees and investors and my ability to impact the direction of the company in reality. Nothing worse than playing with someone else's train set who hates people telling them how to play with it.

Could be a great opportunity to define a career and retirement.....or like most them hard work for little reward and far less money that expected when sold. Working with VC's can be really interesting mind.

You are right. They are seed and looking for series A which is why the VC said you need a CEO/CTO and recommended me. Runway is about 3 years. Working with VCs is definitely interesting. I used to work with this one before and he became a VC last year. He’s always had an aptitude for this and should have done it sooner. He also has an incredible network.

Your insights on this are really good. Also very interesting about the 6 months of notice.

 

[delta0]

Thank you all for your input on this. I’ve had a lot of time to think and fortunately they have given me some more time while they set things up. My position at the moment is still focusing on the great area of work and I think we are agreed on the pay. This is one of those things I wouldn’t want to look back on and regret not doing. So I’m leaning towards taking it but I’ve got some more time think about it at least.

Something that really plays on my mind at the moment is a feeling that I’ve hit a wall in my current role. The learning and growth is not there most of the time so I’m getting bored. This new opportunity would come as both a relief from this and also open up a new chapter in my career, one that I have always wanted to take even if it’s a little earlier than I expected I would.