

Ask HN: Launching a startup from within a "parent" company? - throwaway2000

I'm currently gainfully employed at a smallish consulting company. I like the company and the owners a great deal, but I've got the startup itch. However, I know my company would be very sorry to loose me.<p>Rather than branching out on my own, with all the risks associated with that, it strikes me that it might be possible to reach a mutually beneficial compromise: I stay with my company, keep my salary (possibly with a pay cut), spend ~70% of my time on my own project, and we split the profits. It seems good for both parties, provided they believe in me enough to offset the short-term loss of my salary.<p>Does anyone have experience with this? What would you assume a reasonable ownership/profit distribution ratio would be for this kind of arrangement?<p>(using a throwaway account in case my boss reads this prematurely).
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hga
Two disadvantages I've seen to this while working for this sort of beast (in
my case 3 friends bought out the last founder of a fairly old engineering
services company and as part of the plan one of them ran a subsidiary that was
essentially a startup):

As others have mentioned in other topics, you lose a filtering function. When
the company evaluates your idea(s), their opinion will be contaminated with
their presumed desire to keep you. They will also evaluate you as a potential
startup founder but from what you say there's no reason to believe they're any
good at that (and the skills required are different and quite a bit beyond
consulting).

You'll have a safety net. Sounds nice, but it can become a dangerous crutch.

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bitemyapp
'Fraid not, presently I'm just working on my startup on my own time while
working full-time.

I'll be the first to admit that I have no life and don't get a lot of sleep.

I think it really depends on what kind of trade offs you're willing to make
and risks you're willing to take.

I don't know if a compromise like this would be all that attractive to outside
investors either, although my own startup is somewhat independent of all that.

