

Hire me: a story of developer burnout and how I want to turn it around - mcantelon
http://tanepiper.com/hire-me-a-story-of-developer-burnout-and-how

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fingerprinter
I'm not hiring right now, though I wish you luck.

A word to all the other devs out there being courted by co-founders. This is
from a guy who learned from experience (ie. the hard way) and wants to pass
along some learnings.

Only get in if

A. Everyone has skin in the game equal to their share (if you are doing 200%
of the work for 5% of the company...) B. There is plan for either
bootstrapping, funding or some revenue model well thought out (if they aren't
developing, they are selling or raising money...if they aren't selling or
raising money they are doing nothing). C. You trust your co-founders and they
trust you, implicitly. Things are going to get worse before they get better
and if you don't trust each other about everything, it is going to be a
nightmare ride.

On C. At the first sign of trouble, give benefit of the doubt but don't forget
it. On second, think about getting out, don't wait for a third sign. There are
too many people willing to ride someone else to their victory. I've seen it
over and over again from people who can't "do" themselves.

And D. Get everything in writing, upfront.

On D. Personal story. I trusted a co-founder in the past. We went and started
to build something. We had an agreement on roles, equity, strategy...all that
good stuff. Once MVP got to angel funding stage, all of the sudden the "we
started" and "we built" became "I built" and "I started" (my co-founder saying
that, not me). That was the beginning of the end.

My $.02

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owyn
Just my opinions, after having a bit of a "been there done that" feeling
reading this...

If you're looking for work, you aren't really burned out. I had to take a year
off at one point, and I thought I'd never work as a developer again after
failing a couple of job interviews for jobs that I REALLY wanted (google, I'm
still bitter). It turns out I'm just fine, there's nothing wrong with me or my
skills and I can make a real difference at the place I'm at now. It's just
that those particular jobs sucked a lot and I took it all too personally. I
resolved to never do that kind of thing again. I don't work for equity or
promises or for people who make unreasonable demands any more, and I try not
to get too wrapped up in work.

It sounds like you got burned, that's a different thing. And it will probably
happen again. The same thing happened to me oh... 5 or 6 times until I wised
up. Eventually I decided to work at stable, grown up companies and I've been
much happier. I still get to work on fun stuff. You don't have to kill
yourself over-working or neglect your loved ones to have a solid career.

Also, it sounds like you were trying to work two jobs at one point. Don't do
that.

Anyway, good luck to you and yours, it sounds like you'll do okay!

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wmat
You probably are already aware of this job board, but if not:

<http://jobs.usethesource.com/>

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nicksergeant
We're hiring and would like to chat with you. Remote work is OK. Drop me a
line, email in profile.

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b14ck
I loved your post. I wish I could hire you to work with me! I really hope you
find something, and that everything works out.

Best of luck, from one hacker to another.

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bcl
one of the best things you can learn how to do is say no. projects without
proper funding never end well.

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jmjerlecki
Best of luck to you man. If you were based in the US I would love to have a
chat. I have Crohn's Disease and realize the difficulties this can bring on
you and the people around you. Stay positive and control what you can.

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Gunther
Your post was a very interesting read, thanks for posting it. I wish you the
best of luck!

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hobonumber1
Best of luck mate, great article to read. Hope you learned from that
experience

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niravshah
I wish I could vote this up more than just once.

