Working for a startup

kitkat9933

kitkat9933

kitkat9933

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It's that time again when I need to call on the advice of the people from OCUK GD again.

I've recently decided to leave my teaching role and go back into industry. I've already been offered a development job, with great pay and benefits and decent career prospects. It has a long-commute but bearable. The role would be very cushy.

On top of that I've been recently been offered a role in a startup company. Completely different side of the IT industry but still something within my skill set. The pay is slightly better initially but room to grow quite rapidly as I gather vendor qualifications etc. The career prospects look better but the company is a startup. The MD sold his previous company for many millions so has a fair bit of financial resources and also the company even though very new is operating in the black, so there isn't any obvious cash flow options. This job would defiantly be more of a graft, but it would be rewarded.

What would you guys do in a similar situation? I'd enjoy either job, but it's a choice of a safer job that is cushy or a risky job that will require a lot more graft but would be rewarded.

Both are very good money so I could live a comfortable lifestyle in either.
 
How much do you trust the person with the new start-up?, is it really as secure as they are saying or are they trying to get talent quickly to prevent the ship sinking.

Additionally just because they may have large reserves, they may decide it's not worth plugging the money into it - that is if it takes too long to come out of the black.
 
What do you know about the personality of the person with the money? What was the previous business he sold and can you do some due diligence about him and his business style and the culture he likes to see flourish? Working in a small team of like minds is great and a start up can be invigorating and full of huge opportunity if it's a success, but all you need is an unbalanced individual who makes decisions to the detriment of all but himself and his company, it can be a challenge. Of course that applies to any role and it may simply come down to personal risk and only you know what position you'd be in if tomorrow he said "don't bother coming in again".
 
Redgie said:
Doesn't sound like the startup is that risky, I say go for it :)
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Probably this but I would do your homework on the previous company and I would want to see there was enough of a difference with the new company and it's direction to the last. Having a good financial backer that clearly has a track record would be a big plus to me.

Do either offer share options?
 
kitkat9933 said:
It's that time again when I need to call on the advice of the people from OCUK GD again.

I've recently decided to leave my teaching role and go back into industry. I've already been offered a development job, with great pay and benefits and decent career prospects. It has a long-commute but bearable. The role would be very cushy.

On top of that I've been recently been offered a role in a startup company. Completely different side of the IT industry but still something within my skill set. The pay is slightly better initially but room to grow quite rapidly as I gather vendor qualifications etc. The career prospects look better but the company is a startup. The MD sold his previous company for many millions so has a fair bit of financial resources and also the company even though very new is operating in the black, so there isn't any obvious cash flow options. This job would defiantly be more of a graft, but it would be rewarded.

What would you guys do in a similar situation? I'd enjoy either job, but it's a choice of a safer job that is cushy or a risky job that will require a lot more graft but would be rewarded.

Both are very good money so I could live a comfortable lifestyle in either.
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Be aware that the startup could fold at any time, 90% of startups fail.
So you have very low job security.

You also generally expected to work many more hours because you are part of the team that is trying to make it succeed. Money is also short in a start-up so you are generally offered ISOPs as a motivator to work 60-70 hour weeks to help the company become the next Google.


Start-ups are small and have very flat structures, there is no room to grow until it becomes successful. It is not a good way to further your career per se, more like a gamble in making it big if you are lucky.



I work for a start-up and I have a higher pay than normal because the company didn't start as start-up but a angel funded spin off project. I would expect a 30-40% cut if I applied at different start-ups. I've nearly lost the job 4 times in the past 2 years due to funding issues, you never know when an investment will come and if it will come before the books go red.

Don't under estimate how quickly money flies off the shelves. We burn money at 150K a month in a very small team. Million $ investments last no time at all and are hard to come by!
 
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I used to work for a start-up. I'm very glad I did it but I'd never do it again. The work was the most interesting I've ever done - I wrote so much more code than I'd ever written before and I had a lot of say on what I did on a day-to-day basis. There was a great variety in what I did and so learned a lot. It was a very tight-knit team, feeling more like a family than anything else. We had a fun time.

Eventually, the lack of formal process and long hours got to me. The money was good but, ironically, the skills I learned meant that I could earn more somewhere else by the end (with shorter hours, a pension, etc., etc., etc. on top).
 
When you mention vendor certificates does this indicate you'd be in more of a IT/infrastructure type role?

Would you be a part of working on the main business/product or supporting those who do?

I think if I was going to join a startup is want to be in a key role and hopefully with some equity too else you're taking on more risk for limited gain.
 
Startup

Simply because it can go further for you, more room to grow and potentially earn more money and if you get shares in that company who knows.

You should buy some for yourself.
 
arknor said:
I'd go for the startup but not if it's a set wage and no bonus for getting onboard early.

share options or gtfo
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Share options are utterly worthless most of the time. I've been issued share options three times over the years. Total worth? £0.00.

They're a lottery. I've seen people win big but very few do. Given the choice between a higher salary or share options, I'd go with the higher salary every time.
 
Get ready for long hours and weekend work, this will definitly happen, higher than average work load, and no guaranteed job security.

On the plus side I have been in 2 startups, it was fun I guess for sometime, you know startups are quirky and interesting, but I am the opposite to you and now I want to become a teacher when I decide to work again. So each to their own.

As someone pointed out above, it doesn't matter how much money the person has, if he doesn't push into the black within the first year then funds will be cut and the chances are the business will fold or may go into a completly different tanjant then what you initially planned on developing or working for. This also happened to me twice.
 
Despite the risks I would go for the startup unless I had kids. It is likely to be more interesting and has more potential upside if the company is successful. If it fails then look for another job using the experience you gained.
 
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