I was one of the first employees at a fairly large dotcom 18 years ago and via a circuitous route through industry and academia I find myself back at a startup now.
One mistake I see early-stage startups make over and over again is low-balling key positions with the consequence that good engineers/designers are not retained but less-able engineers/designers are. As the company ages and the remaining OK-ish employees gain more power, a culture-of-mediocrity-death-spiral sets in which is hard if not impossible to escape from: products don't ship, sales suffer.
There are lots of good reasons NOT to work at a startup: Outside of startupland it is now easier to land a well paid gig at a big tech company than at any time in the last 15 years. In the public/state sector technology workers have experienced steep pay increases due to the intense pressure to digitalise. Consultancy and contracting remain lucrative, with established players constantly on the lookout for new hires, and individuals often able to multiply their pay by switching to contract employment.
I feel like the opportunities to influence and be promoted within a startup are in some ways overstated. In my own experience this has been just as easy in larger and more established organisations. Startups often lean pretty heavily on this argument and I am not sure if it is actually true for anybody outside of the founder's circle.
Startups often tie themselves up in knots trying to find out how to attract early employees, when really it just comes down to pay and conditions. Treat your early employees like functioning adults by offering decent pay, pension, holidays and benefits and great applicants will come flocking.
One mistake I see early-stage startups make over and over again is low-balling key positions with the consequence that good engineers/designers are not retained but less-able engineers/designers are. As the company ages and the remaining OK-ish employees gain more power, a culture-of-mediocrity-death-spiral sets in which is hard if not impossible to escape from: products don't ship, sales suffer.
There are lots of good reasons NOT to work at a startup: Outside of startupland it is now easier to land a well paid gig at a big tech company than at any time in the last 15 years. In the public/state sector technology workers have experienced steep pay increases due to the intense pressure to digitalise. Consultancy and contracting remain lucrative, with established players constantly on the lookout for new hires, and individuals often able to multiply their pay by switching to contract employment.
I feel like the opportunities to influence and be promoted within a startup are in some ways overstated. In my own experience this has been just as easy in larger and more established organisations. Startups often lean pretty heavily on this argument and I am not sure if it is actually true for anybody outside of the founder's circle.
Startups often tie themselves up in knots trying to find out how to attract early employees, when really it just comes down to pay and conditions. Treat your early employees like functioning adults by offering decent pay, pension, holidays and benefits and great applicants will come flocking.