

Ask HN: How should employees judge startup founders? - waveant

I&#x27;ve been working in the industry for about a year now, but since I&#x27;m self-taught, I don&#x27;t really have a big network to fall back on.  Given that, how would you suggest trying to judge the qualifications of the founders of a startup? They seem like nice people, but their profiles are pretty thin and it&#x27;s hard to tell if they&#x27;re just talking a good game.  They previously worked together on a startup that sold to a major company for about $35M - does that seem like a reasonable indicator that they have some sense of what they&#x27;re doing?
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MalcolmDiggs
I think it's easiest to "judge" them in the context of your personal goals.
So, rather than thinking about if they know what they're doing, look for
indicators that they'll provide an environment suitable to whatever it is that
you're there for. If you're there primarily to learn, for example, then
different characteristics will be important than if you were there to get
rich.

All that being said: Yes, the fact that they've done this before is a good
thing. It doesn't really matter if they failed or were successful in their
last venture; both types of experiences are educational and should help them
in this new project.

