> I started a company, failed miserably, but it was easy to get a well-paying job with a salary and a lot of stock when I did.
Your anecdotes are not an indication that the risk is overstated. Who knows what factors decreased the risk for you, and while you attribute it to 'engineering talent', it's far more likely to be something like more skill at using the network of connections you've established (most jobs are still filled this way).
Whatever that factor is, it isn't necessarily a common skill.
Re:Climbing the wrong hill (2009)
by austenallred on Monday April 17, 2017 @12:25AM
(#14129214)
Find me a talented engineer in the Bay Area who started a company and now can't find a job. We have $5,000 referral bonuses and severe engineering shortages so I'd love to refer him or her.
Re:Climbing the wrong hill (2009)
by peterwwillis on Monday April 17, 2017 @03:15AM
(#14129642)
I have known several, and rent was so high they eventually moved away.
Consider offering remote positions. Even if those positions are only used as a way to open new people to the possibility of moving to SF.
If your shortages are severe, why limit your talent pool to the smallest, most competitive market?
Re:Climbing the wrong hill (2009)
by austenallred on Monday April 17, 2017 @10:58AM
(#14131303)
The shortage at our company isn't severe, but in the bay area it is. And you do so because having people in-house is much more productive and decreases organizational cost. There's a reason people want employees in-house, and it's not mentioned much on HN.
I ran a remote company once before. I'll never do it again.
I started a company, failed miserably, but it was easy to get a well-paying job with a salary and a lot of stock when I did. And the company I'm at now I joined long after product-market fit. I was still ahead in my career of people who were in the same place but didn't start a company. And I paid myself slightly less but still well enough to get by, so the only painful part was the transition between jobs. If you're a talented engineer you'll be just fine. I've probably had a job offer per week since then, too.
Now I've Saved up enough money, and I'll make another go. If I fail? Back to the same pretty-damn-good default position.