Ask HN: What's it like to fire someone at a startup?
Can someone who's fired or been fired talk about the experience? Do these scenes often turn ugly? What's the best way to go about it? What does it feel like for both sides?
brewgardn
Re:Ask HN: What's it like to fire someone at a startup?
on Thursday April 04, 2013 @11:41PM (#5496667)
What about the current mantras of "fire fast", and "culture fit" as the most important quality of an employee. It seems like that doesn't lend itself to working through problems in a deliberate way or taking much responsibilty for the hiring process. To me, honestly, it sounds like throw a bunch of shit at the wall as fast you can as see what sticks.
Trendy bullshit advice or truth to it?
Re:Ask HN: Middle ground between bootstrapping & VC?
on Thursday April 04, 2013 @11:49AM (#5493312)
Are there other ways for Angels to get their capital out of a startup other than an acquisition/IPO?
Ask HN: Middle ground between bootstrapping & VC?
We need a small runway ($250K) to get our first customers, but we don't want to take on debt, give up equity or otherwise have an exit strategy. We want a sustainable private company. If we're looking beyond friends and family, who should I reach out to?
Re:Ask HN: Are there any children's websites that teach coding or codi...
on Monday April 01, 2013 @04:35PM (#5475742)
The 1st edition of this?? http://amzn.to/179DGr8
Re:Ask HN: Are there any children's websites that teach coding or codi...
on Monday April 01, 2013 @02:34PM (#5474974)
Great point. She is definitely more in the "spark interest" camp. Probably, naturally more suited to the design field, but I want her to be exposed to coding early so she can make an informed decision, instead of being intimidated by the prospect at a later stage (like her dad). Also, she's a great leader and I've got two more coming up behind her, so if she takes to it, I might have a hacker family on my hands :)
Ask HN: Are there any children's websites that teach coding or coding concepts?
My 5th grade daughter is on Spring Break this week. I'd really like to expose her to the basics of coding, and start planting some seeds. Any resources?
Show HN: My Silent Movie
We're planning to apply to a top accelerator. Here's our low-budget, but fun, product video we made. Would love your thoughts.FYI: The scope has changed a lot since this video was shot and we started building. Essentially, we're working to build a better Yelp.
Re:Ask HN: How best to cook a steak?
on Friday March 15, 2013 @10:08PM (#5384065)
I would say +1 to this, but also add butter & onions :)
Re:Ask HN: Any black women founders out there? What's your story?
on Friday March 15, 2013 @11:07AM (#5380976)
This is AWESOME. So is Cory Booker. Now tell me, which major publications covered it?
Re:Ask HN: Any black women founders out there? What's your story?
on Thursday March 14, 2013 @11:32PM (#5379093)
Re:Ask HN: Any black women founders out there? What's your story?
on Thursday March 14, 2013 @03:16PM (#5377044)
So how to fix the exposure problems. Are media outlets like Inc, Forbes, Techcrunch making a good enough effort to cover stories like this?
Re:Ask HN: Any black women founders out there? What's your story?
on Thursday March 14, 2013 @02:46PM (#5376886)
I think it's awesome! Good code has no race or gender! :)
Re:Ask HN: Any black women founders out there? What's your story?
on Thursday March 14, 2013 @02:43PM (#5376870)
Love y'alls program.
Three questions: 1) Do the gender messages of women pioneers like Sheryl & Marissa resonate with black entrepreneurs or does the message feel "hollow"?
2) Are there any mainstream outlets that you think do a fairly good job of covering success (or struggles) of BFFs?
3) Who is your dream mentor?
Re:Ask HN: Any black women founders out there? What's your story?
on Thursday March 14, 2013 @02:28PM (#5376774)
Do you have a link? I'd love to read/watch. Thanks for turning me on to those groups!
Re:Ask HN: Any black women founders out there? What's your story?
on Thursday March 14, 2013 @12:50PM (#5376094)
So my observation is shared. But you think that it fairly representative of the actual population, rather than what holds our attention in this entrepreneurship culture.
Well, your experience with male founders is not typical with where I live (Richmond). But I do agree that they are much more represented in the media.
Re:Ask HN: Any black women founders out there? What's your story?
on Thursday March 14, 2013 @09:51AM (#5374909)
You're right! But most articles have photos, so do blogs, so do twitter profiles. 99% White. I'm new to startups, but I can think of at least 50 women founders/cofounders, many are household names, none are black. I'll put it this way. Who is the most well-known founder you can name? I'm going to tweet at @blackgirlscode to get some input.
Re:Ask HN: Any black women founders out there? What's your story?
on Thursday March 14, 2013 @08:34AM (#5374516)
He's got binders full of women founders.
Re:Ask HN: Any black women founders out there? What's your story?
on Thursday March 14, 2013 @08:15AM (#5374418)
I'm sure you didn't mean that statement to sound like all women are interchangeable.
Well,that's exactly what I'm asking. When people who talk about women in tech, they use the phrase broadly. But you don't often see black women founders standing up in solidarity.
I am curious: 1) is it because there are very few founders, 2) they aren't as vocal, 3) or b/c we, the listeners don't pay attention?
Re:Ask HN: Any black women founders out there? What's your story?
on Thursday March 14, 2013 @07:39AM (#5374296)
Sweet. I figured there were programs for under-represented. I was wondering why there wasn't as much coverage on blogs, twitter, editorials, etc. I bet you will see 20-25 stories come through your feed about the struggles of women founders today. I doubt any of them will be about black women. Full Disclsoure: I'm not a black woman.
Ask HN: Any black women founders out there? What's your story?
Today I've read my nth article about gender bias in silicon valley and just realized they've all. been. about. white. women....Maybe an Asian or Jewish woman thrown in once in a while.Is it b/c there just aren't many? I would love to hear stories from black women founders, as well as their opinion of the coverage on this issue.
Re:Tell HN: Don't stay up late commenting on HN
on Monday March 11, 2013 @01:08AM (#5355016)
Leave him alone. He's just cranky from lack of sleep.
Re:Is there something I'm suppose to be doing?
on Wednesday March 06, 2013 @03:17PM (#5333537)
This is not a recommended solution, but an observation of my own life. I felt almost exactly how you did - till I had kids. They gave the job I was once excited about, now bored about, a new rich level of meaning -- bc it was allowing me to provide a better life for them. They gave me a reason to have long term goals there, and not throw in the towel as quickly as I might have otherwise.