‘Anti’ Startup People
Today I had an interesting altercation with few members of the community. They all seem to dislike the idea of leaving a high paying job, and joining a startup after taking a pay cut, but with sizeable ESOPs, equity. You also have interest in the idea/product/market. You also believe in the ‘vision’ / direction whatever you’d like to call it.
My question is - if you don’t have liabilities, then what stops you?
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Joining an Indian startup sounds like hitting yourself in the foot IMO. They are notorious for shitty WLB, strict deadlines, etc. The stocks don't mean anything if the company doesn't succeed. Also in current market conditions every startup seems to be loss making, they'll suck your energy dry.
Hitting on my foot? More like jumping in the well and then trying to climb my way up with a broken foot
+1.. i agree on this. No body is anti startup. people are just Anti risk.
Indian startups suffer credibility. Why would i join a company, which openly wants me to work 14grs a day, when the reward is not certain. Unless boot strapped, i do not see a startup founder who is poor. I have seen many startup employees miss thoer monthly salary.
Have burnt myself once.
Indian startups are not about building. They are mostly abt ego, politics and squeezing the max by paying too little. Happy to talk over DMs.
What you describe are not 'anti' startup people. Putting anti in braces doesn't mean you can alter the meaning of the term.
Being interested in something is not enough for risking a career. The onus is on you to convince me instead of asking the generic "why not"
Fair point
Surprisingly, I’ve heard a lot of similar comments from people working in service based IT companies.
And you hardly ever see anyone from service IT background make it to a startup, simply on skill and ability.
Sour grapes maybe?
Different, varying spectrum of risk tolerance and normalization which is why many do not want to be in a startup There is nothing wrong or right as one size does not fit all
Forgot to add..it's all driven by incentives so everyone's motivations are well understood
I was in a startup where I have seen 7x growth of my Esops, multiple secondary transactions throughout my tenure, I left it last year due to career aspirations, but I still miss that startup,btw it's USA based startup. Nothing should hold you back if you feel the founders are good,having vision and you are ready to ride that with your own personal growth, my salary doubled in 4years in that startup, maybe less internal hikes compared to Big tech
What is your startup got check that careers page now
Startups are very draining: they have their periods where everything feels great and things are good and then the next thing you know, you on calls through the day and night and weekends and your being shouted at and berated.
It’s good work because you learn a lot but unless things are smooth sailing for them, it’s unlikely that you’ll have a chill time there and it’s the worst when business is not going well because that’s when tensions are the highest and you’ll feel exceedingly anxious about your job security.