

The ideal startup career path - tomh-
http://cdixon.org/2009/10/22/the-ideal-startup-career-path/

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rajatmehta1
In todays time there is no guarantee anywhere so why not pursue your dream.If
your dream is to work in a startup, create something that is used by millions
then there is no point holding back.last year has shown that even elephants
can collapse.False sense of security that was provided by bigger companies is
no longer there. I do agree though that for many people money is a driving
factor and there is nothing wrong with that.One thing is there atleast in a
startup there is hope that you can make big some time.Also based on your
skills if the startup collapses you can always get a new job if you want to
shift back then why not try.

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rmorrison
It is true that most early startup employee will not become financially
independent if/when the startup sells.

However, if you take away this dream, I suspect a lot of non-founding, startup
employees would not risk leaving a stable job to work at a startup. They know
they're too risk adverse to startup their own company, they're not interested
in being mentored or eventually funded, and they prefer stability over
excitement.

What leads them to working at a startup is the promise of making it big
someday, maybe they know people who have done it. Or read about it.

I'm not really judging this, but more so just pointing out what I've seen. I
am not recommending that you, as a founder, lie or deceive them,. However, the
truth is that if you take away their hopes and dreams (and people can be very
imaginative), you'll have a much smaller talent pool to choose from.

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DaniFong
We actually tell people this, and work through a few example exits to educate
them on what it would mean for them financially. Then we tell them that we'll
have a great time working with unbelievably excellent people on a supremely
meaningful problem, that they get a better education in how startups work that
anywhere else, and that they'll actually be paid pretty well for it. And then
we tell them that big companies are impersonal, and routinely fire great
contributors for stupid reasons, and that if we go out of business the
founding team will personally work our utmost to find our employees good jobs.

It does convince people, most of the time. More importantly I think I sets the
right tone for our relationship going forward. This is not a big company.
Startups are a family.

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rmorrison
That's great to hear, and it sounds like that's helping build a strong, honest
culture.

What bothers me are when I see good, capable people who stay with a sinking
ship only because they're holding onto hope. I feel like some startups exploit
that hope in a negative way. I don't know how often this happens, but I have
seen it a couple times.

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tomh-
As student I joined a startup which has shown me a lot of insight which will
definitely useful in case I ever join another one. I can also recommend
joining startups which operate in slightly different industries to get a
broader understanding of different aspects of a startup.

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cchakrab
So when is one too considered too old to begin a startup company? Do most
folks consider a 30-year old to be a bad fit for his first startup job?

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rajatmehta1
Adobe was started by their founders when they were in their fiftees. KFC was
founded by the founder when he had retired. It is never too late to pursue
your dream.

