Current Events > Y'all ever work at a startup company?

(+) Yeah! (+)

What industry and how was your experience there?
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My first job was at a start-up. It was in the IT industry, specifically using tracking devices to monitor food environments and transfer the info to a website.

It was fucking hellish.

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Have a former co-worker that went to go work at a startup. He spent his every waking moment working and had to deal with the pressure that each decision he made could make or break the small company and put everyone out of a job. He thrived in that kind of environment (he wanted to work somewhere where he thought his choices mattered), but that's just the kind of person he is.

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I'm working on a indie puzzle game and entirely in my free time and with no pay as of yet, does that count?
This is more a hobby than a real job as of yet
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Currently do, at a fintech startup. Its cool

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I havent but my husband did and it nearly cost us our marriage so lol

Personally no, but many of my friends stayed in the Silicon Valley area for various software startups, and several friends are startup founders.

I have to say, from my time in Palo Alto, I have to commend the HBO Silicon Valley tv show for nailing so many of those stereotypes. It truly is a weird cultural bubble.

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Cleo_II posted...

I havent but my husband did and it nearly cost us our marriage so lol

I can imagine. I think I'm gonna be joining one soon, but I'm a bit scared of the potential lack of stability you always hear about.
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emblem boy posted...

I can imagine. I think I'm gonna be joining one soon, but I'm a bit scared of the potential lack of stability you always hear about.

But you get to get in on the ground floor. Company does well and your set for life.

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I've worked at a number of startups in the Bay Area as a Software Engineer/Web Dev. From small (place im at is like 15 people) to the largest being about 250.

Most stereotypes I've seen are accurate. I've been laid off twice which wasn't fun. The one thing I have always had is work/life balance, none of my jobs had me doing overtime except on rare occasions. Not sure how common that is is so ymmv.

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Makeveli_lives posted...

emblem boy posted...

I can imagine. I think I'm gonna be joining one soon, but I'm a bit scared of the potential lack of stability you always hear about.

But you get to get in on the ground floor. Company does well and your set for life.

Ya true, but I don't want to get excited about stock options. Seems like I should just assume that it's worthless, and if it works out, it's a (super) bonus
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Yeah, I've worked at a few.

1) Network operations center at a managed services company

• This place was a really cool place to work. They got bought out by a larger telecom startup that was worse, but still mostly pretty cool.
• That 2nd place got bought out by a large telecom company that was awful. I quit.

2) Network engineer at a sporting goods company.

• This job was REALLY awesome at first. Around the time they went public, it got really bad. I ended up quitting that job.

Now I work for a company that has been around for about 115 years and I'm hoping I can stay here for the rest of my career.

Startups are cool sometimes. When you're in specialized positions like network engineer, you can end up with a lot of different hats, which can be stressful.

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emblem boy posted...

I can imagine. I think I'm gonna be joining one soon, but I'm a bit scared of the potential lack of stability you always hear about.

In his case it wasnt just the workload but they lied about the scope of his role. They offered an IT director position with the promise that he could build out a team. Then after he was hired didnt let him bring anyone on and made him support the entire company on his own. And their environment was incredibly toxic with people in management treating others (and him) with disrespect and contempt. He became so engrossed in everything and could barely take any time off. And hed take out his crankiness on me. Once he left the company he finally went back to the man I married but it was rough.

Yeah a mountain guiding startup

It was a total shitshow

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