Working for a startup

Tunney said:
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).
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You do raise some good points:
In a startup everyone is equally important and has to get their hands dirty with everything. You can code in so many different languages, end up being responsible for so many different technologies and have to learn heck of a lot quickly.

You also have so much more responsibility. E.g., company needs feature X, so you go off and do that as fast as possible. No discussion, no planning, no process, just go and do it. Moreover, if you see the company need feature Y then you can just go ahead and do it, you do whatever is best for the company.

there is no process. That has a double edged sword. If you want some formal management process like Agile or so on then you will be disapointed that is=t is basically a free for all with he aim ti get as much done in as little time as possible, forget concepts like test-based development. you will be lucky to get any testing done before the new feature is getting demoed by the CEO.


You can be working on something for weeks and then out of the blue you have to ditch that and do something else.

It all tends to be hap-hazard because start-up have to be very dynamic. An investors asks if you can do feature X, you drop everything and code feature X over the weekend.
 
Tunney said:
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.
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Of course the stock is a gamble, but without that incentive then i don't know why on earth you would work for a start-up.


The whole point is that you have a small chance of making significant money, and the harder you work and the more you contribute then the higher the chances that the company will succeed and that you will get rich.

Remove that incentive then why the heck would you want to work such long hours on lower pay with no security?
 
Just had the formal job offer and have accepted it. It's a bit funny as I only got offered an interview and Sunday and had to drive down last night for it today! It's all happened a little bit fast.

I think there is some risk, but the opportunity in terms of a career and financial reward is just too good to turn down.
 
Tunney said:
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.
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then there is no point working at the start up is there.

he might as well go for security if he won't take any risk/reward


he's going to work like a slave for what? no share options ??!?!?! lol.

point of working for a startup is you get on board before they potentially explode, you get shares so when the company does explode all your hard work and long hours are rewarded.

It's a full team effort not everyone trying to make one guy rich he isn't taking all the risks your taking huge risks working for them and should expect a reward at the end of the rainbow if it makes a pot of gold.
 
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I currently work for what was then a start up, of sorts. It's a bit different in my industry, but I joined before the companies product was field ready. Meaning I had a big role in qualifying the product in the field, and had loads of input into certain aspects of the firmware and software required.

We then got bought over by a large multinational, which came with its own perks, such as a large retention bonus and other, lesser perks. But overall was a very good move.

I didn't really have the foresight to consider it possible to fail. The idea was novel, and seemed sound. I had worked with tools previously designed by the lead designer, and that was successful. It was only when my mate mentioned how brave I was leaving an established organisation for a start up, with a 3 month old child, that I even thought about it.

Overall though, it was probably one of the best moves of my career, and I'm still with them.
 
Jopabo said:
The owner of a startup will **** you over big time when it goes wrong, be under no illusions. Have a back up plan.
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Tha, you will be out of a job, the is kind of obvious. I am forming a collection,of termination letters, each has been revoked by last minute investments.


That is what you get. The way I see it I have a 1 in 10 chance of being a millionaire within a few years and a 90% chance of loosing my job in the next year.
 
Sounds to me that if you suddenly found yourself out of work, you would find something pretty quickly

On that basis take a gamble go with the start up an grow with the new company,

Good luck
 
I have experience of two startups. One where the owners didn't care about anyone or anything other than profit and gave little in return, and one where the owners cared about a lot of things and the rewards where great.

It depends entirely on the company.
 
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