
Ask HN: How do you know that a startup is worth joining or not? - sage76
What are the right questions to ask? How to assess a pre-product market fit startup? What are the signs that they already have product market fit and are growing? What are the warning signs of poor quality founders?
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oblib
Since no one else has chimed in I'll offer a few thoughts on this.

I think you need to look for people who are dedicated to the project, willing
to work hard, be flexible, and learn as they go.

Evaluating pre-product market fit is work a startup needs to do so at the
point you speak of it's still a gut level estimation you need make when
deciding to join.

I would tend to shy away from bluster and ego. I would need to see people more
excited about making the product great than the big bucks they expect to get
when they cash out.

Ask what needs to be figured out and where their weak links and hurdles are.

Ask them to tell you what they don't know. That is something all startup team
members need to do their best to understand because here there be monsters.

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sage76
> Ask what needs to be figured out and where their weak links and hurdles are.

> Ask them to tell you what they don't know

And what if the situation is of them not knowing what they don't know? Unknown
unknowns are there....

~~~
oblib
"Unknown unknowns are there"

Most likely that is the case but the point of asking is to see how well
they've thought out the product and to uncover areas that may need propping
up.

