Re:Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2018?
by angersock on Tuesday June 12, 2018 @02:30AM
(#17291137)
It's only a lonely road because of decisions they made themselves.
Maybe if they stopped treating themselves like some anointed class and shared the equity with their employees instead of viewing them like lower-class citizens it wouldn't be so hard to find comrades.
Re:Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2018?
by manigandham on Tuesday June 12, 2018 @09:39AM
(#17293113)
Employees aren't friends and really shouldn't be. Maybe you've had a bad experience with some founders, they certainly are just as varied as people, but the role itself is anything but easy.
Re:Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2018?
by angersock on Tuesday June 12, 2018 @01:19PM
(#17295480)
> Employees aren't friends and really shouldn't be.
That's a fine view to take! But don't come rattling the cup around going "but poor founders, so lonely, nobody to talk to" when they've made that choice.
Re:Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2018?
by manigandham on Tuesday June 12, 2018 @01:50PM
(#17295864)
You seem to be missing the point, as the prior comments are talking about "social connections" that founders get as a significant benefit, and which I'm saying isn't true.
Nobody is complaining really, certainly not the founders who chose what they do. In fact it seems like people who aren't founders that are complaining about the supposed benefits and lack of work without actually understanding what it entails.
What social connections do you think founders get that employees somehow dont? And what is this worth? So founding a company and losing everything is fine because you make some friends? If you talk to any entrepreneurs, you'll quickly realize you'll lose more friends and connections than you gain, precisely because of lack of time and ability to relate. It's a very lonely road, not some glamorous jet-setting adventure.
What's absurd is thinking that starting a company is just some hobby that is no different than any normal job. Until you actually do it, it's easy to overlook the incredible personal investment and stress it takes to put something together from nothing. Most companies fail, and many do not raise capital or have some quick meteoric rise but rather suffer through years of trying to make it work. The upside for founders is incredibly rare while the downsides are very common. Employees get paid either way.