" Passionate " Startup folks
A lot of folks working at startups seem to be "passionate " about their job. Some of them possibly, truly are. Some foolishly reverse engineer this passion because they're paid really well and they've been doing a good job and it's good personal PR to say "passion". A few reality checks.
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Your cool Bangalore lifestyle is a result of investment risks/bets taken by VC's .
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Your salary is as much about the market demand as it is about your " passion " and talent.
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Startups will generally lower the bar for hiring processes to meet their demand for talent. Why need so much talent? Because the startup needs to spend that 100M$ Series C that just made them a unicorn. That's how they convince the VC to give more money. "We are going to 2x revenue by 2xing our salesforce and buying 10M$ worth of Saas that will increase our productivity by 5x. " And boom ...100M$ transferred into you SVB bank account.
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You are as replaceable as a garbage bag on your dustbin. The HR is probably flirting with 10 other like you over linkedin.
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The "values" this startup apparently espouses are mostly nothing but a honey trap and positioning to lure talent.
It's great to have a nice tech job that pays well and allows you to gloat on twitter like a techbro but don't let it fool you into getting an inflated sense of entitlement. You're probably living on borrowed time....and money. :)
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While I’m not a startup bro - this looks like a very pessimistic view of what it means to be in an early stage company.
I wish I had the guts to take the plunge and work in something early. Early stage projects make the world a better place. Period.
And yeah, when you don’t have food like google and perks like Facebook, you will need ‘passion’ to keep you going.
So yes ‘passion’ is important
Name one ‘early stage projects’ that is trying to make the world a better place nowadays. Just one. It might’ve been case a couple of years ago but now everyone is focused on getting that massive exit payout and not the world.
Heard of Exeliq Tech solutions, making customised ATE for companies like LG, Schneider. Totally bootstrapped and there are many like them. Just because they are not in IT doesn't mean they don't make a difference.
I'm not entirely sure what the "reality check" here is? Isn't this how startups usually operate? You go join a startup because you beleive in what they are doing so you work as much as you can and make money while doing it while the company does the same. If it works it works if it doesn't you move on to something else. Not sure what the post is about tbh
Exactly!
I’ll tell you a problem that I’ve personally faced while interviewing folks coming over from big name startups. The entitlement is something else on a majority of the folks. They think the brand tag is itself enough to carry them all through their career. Just cause a company is claiming to be working on a ground breaking tech, it does not automatically translate into your resume unless you have the conviction and proof to back it up in some form. Had multiple people bomb the interviews pretty badly. And I’m not even gonna talk about the inflated compensation part. There is a market standard for everything. You cannot expect a company to give 50lpa to a 1yoe with basic Javascript knowledge. But that’s what most of these folks think they deserve apparently.
100% on point. A lot of startup hustlers and techbros are gonna be pissed but this is the truth. The startup’s burning cash to raise their valuations, the VCs have already done their math and how to recoup their profits. You naïve ‘hustlers’ trying to find that 1bhk in Indiranagar with your inflated paychecks are living in a delusion that you’re trying to add value to the world with your novel employer. No and no. Make hay while the sun shines but also be on the lookout for some backup plans as your enployer won’t bat an eye to sell everything off for a massive paycheck for themselves.
Startups give out lots of perks and benefits to attract talented folks ready to take shit ton of risks.
To techbro’s out there - it’s great to be passionate about work, it's also important to have a realistic understanding of the industry and the company you work for (most of my techbro friends feel they’re irreplaceable, that’s not true).
Keep your eyes open and stay informed, and always be prepared for any changes.
At the end of the day, it's up to you to decide what's important to you and what you're willing to put up with in exchange for a great job/money/perks.
