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Working in Tech startups

SSgt Dickweed

SSgt Dickweed

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TLDR - what's the end goal of working in different startups? Trying to be a well-paid executive in one of them? If you had done it, do you end up retiring in a more established company, or start your own hustle?

Been job hopping for the last few years. One in this large San Francisco based startup that became a unicorn, lasted only a few months because of the shift they gave me. They had massive layoff, mid-2022 and now they've been hiring again. Another one in a Hong Kong based startup with had good product, but they essentially made me an accountant which is not in my skillset so I bounced. This current one I have been in for six months, has a really good trajectory in the Fintech space (think early Nubank) but I don't like it necessarily, but I learn and earn well.

I think the general consensus of working in startups is: the benefits would be high compensation packages, because the main way to get competent people from more established companies is by paying them well. The main con is that the workload can be toxic, and I'm lucky in this regard because I haven't experienced this yet six months in.

Now, I am sending my resumes out again, for other tech companies, maybe not in startup phase anymore, for a more long-term career movie. Not trying to rush anything, the earliest I want to have a new job is early 2024, latest in mid-2024.

I have stock options that could be worth a lot in the future, but is this really something employees stay for? Has anyone here made a good play with stock options?

I have never liked working after the pandemic because WFH sucks, so I shifted to hybrid work in this Fintech company. But my work sensibilities have dulled because of working out of my room for so long, I don't even know if I could go back to regular on-site work. But at least with hybrid work, there is some interaction which I miss, and if I get to a new company, hopefully there would be more of this.
 
Startups tend to pay a lot, but they have to because they are less stable so if they didn't pay a lot then nobody would ever work at one.

I'm not surprised they made you do things outside of your skillset either, because startups usually don't have enough staff for everyone to specialize in just one thing. It's kind of like everybody has to pitch in and do what's needed even if it's not in your job description.

The stock options are usually worthless because most startups fail, or at the very least their stock price declines a lot after their IPO so you can never exercise your options anyway.

I would only work for one if I really really really believed in the company. Like it was the next Google or Netflix. But 99.9% of them aren't.

Some people make a living just bouncing from one startup to another. You get to enjoy the high pay and you don't expect to stay long so you're not upset if it fails. Of course you'd better have the type of resume that easily lands you a new job so you're not out of work long.
 
Fedorgasm said:
I'm not surprised they made you do things outside of your skillset either, because startups usually don't have enough staff for everyone to specialize in just one thing. It's kind of like everybody has to pitch in and do what's needed even if it's not in your job description.
Click to expand...

*Looking for rockstar (insert position)


Automatically means doing 3 jobs.
 
I heard Yahoo is going to be huge. Look into it...

<seedat>
 
There's only 2 reasons to work for a tech startup
1) You truly love the work and you're really good at it, whether it's programming, working with datasets, or whatever, and you just want to find an opportunity to do it.
2) You want to try & get rich by working your ass off.

That's it. If you're not going to work 90 hour weeks, deal with shitty work environments, or really love the work, you have no business being in a tech startup and you will fail and hate your life. This is why I got out of the tech industry as soon as I could.
 
The thrill of making the next UBER, Facebook etc. What's not exciting to be a part of that?
 
Depends. I have a friend in the Bay Area that is at the same tech start up over a decade now. He is now an exec for the past 4 years. About 5 years ago they got acquired for almost $100 million. No idea what type of bonus he got, but they bought a nearly $2 mil house in Dublin about a year later.

We have a few other friends that work for other tech startups that are also doing pretty well. Another friend was at a start up but is now an engineer at Google. Some will flip flop between a start up or FAANG company. The most successful of them all in our circle of friends was a OG Google engineer. He later created his own start up with 2 of his friends. Got acquired by Home Depot a decade ago. I think all he does now is work on patents and advisor work. I wouldn't be surprised if his net worth is close to 9 figures.
 
boingyman said:
Depends. I have a friend in the Bay Area that is at the same tech start up over a decade now. He is now an exec for the past 4 years. About 5 years ago they got acquired for almost $100 million. No idea what type of bonus he got, but they bought a nearly $2 mil house in Dublin about a year later.

We have a few other friends that work for other tech startups that are also doing pretty well. Another friend was at a start up but is now an engineer at Google. Some will flip flop between a start up or FAANG company. The most successful of them all in our circle of friends was a OG Google engineer. He later created his own start up with 2 of his friends. Got acquired by Home Depot a decade ago. I think all he does now is work on patents and advisor work. I wouldn't be surprised if his net worth is close to 9 figures.
Click to expand...

<mma4>
 
Joining a start up company is a dangerous venture. So many things can go wrong. Many companies in fact go bankrupt within a few years. Even if you manage to stay afloat you still got to deal with the lack of potential infrastructure within the company. It's basically a pain in the ass to deal with and most normal people prefer working within an already established system.

This is where insensitivization comes into play. Usually they will offer early employees some sort of futures stock options. So if the company does have potential and they go public, you could be an instant multimillionaire
 
I have friends who flagpole startups just for the stock options. Most successful SAAS startups are likely to be acquired and maybe one startup will IPO, which is on top of a pretty decent salary.

Riding the wave.
 
Start ups are in it to explode in popularity and then sell for as much as can get.. 99% aren't there for the long term it's all about creating something that hits and then selling for a fortune. If you spot something that you think might tske off and can get a package that gives you a worthwhile percentage after its sold go for it. But 99% never do anything an you end up with nothing . Definitely not a great path for long term employment tho
 
Ton of opportunity. Especially if you buy into the company and it becomes successful.

It gives you the opportunity to learn a lot and wear different hats.

I prefer to work for smaller privately owned tech companies now. I've work for big brand name publicly traded tech companies and you're just a number to them and they are quick to lay people off because they had two bad quarters of earnings.
 
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There are start-ups, and there are start-ups. If you're talking 3 dudes working out of a garage, fuck that unless you are young/have made bank/can take the risk. There are also start-ups that close multi billion dollar series A where risk can be mitigated. Folks bouncing after ~1 from start-up to start-up likely aren't cashing out on anything.
 
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