Ask HN: is it better to have work experience before starting a startup?

[al_]

I'm asking the HN community because I'm about to graduate ( in September ), and I got an offer from quite a successful startup ( about 120-150 people now ). The pay is good and the people I'll be working with are definitely smart. I'm just wondering if this will actually helps me with my plan which is starting my own startup eventually. Should I start it up right after school and decline job offers ( which means living at my parents since I don't have cash in the bank ) ? What about doing consulting/freelance work on the side and starting building the product in the same time ? If any of you has an advice about what elements should I base my decision on, that would be really helpful.

[LeBlanc]

I was in the same situation as you about 2 months ago and I decided to take the plunge and work on my own start-up.

While I know that work experience and the network from working someplace awesome would help me, I had the idea, the passion, and a basic prototype so I decided to just do it. I could always go join a start-up later, and I don't have any debt or obligations so I can live super-cheap. Even if I fail I will have a cool piece of software to show for it that I can use to help me get a job later.

Good luck with whatever you decide! Shoot me an email if you want to talk.

[staunch]

No. Yes you will learn a lot. Some truly helpful things, but 90% will be about how to thrive inside a company as an employee. If you want to be a founder the only real experience is to be one.

Your job as founder of a tiny startup puts you on the correct trajectory.

[spooneybarger]

If you want to start a company, it is good work in a company environment where you can see what you think works and doesn't work first hand. Practical experience vs theoretical will help you make fewer mistakes no matter what craft you practice be it, running a business, programming, carpentry or anything else.

[byoung2]

Solid advice. Plus, if he lives frugally (he said living with his parents was on the table) while working for a few years, he should be able to save up a nice cushion of savings.

[z2amiller]

Working at a "real" company will give you some insight about "how the sausage is made", both from the business side as well as the software development side. You can gain a lot of information about what does and does not work by observing and participating in the process for a while. Stay at home or live cheap and put some of that decent salary into savings for if/when you commit to your own project full time.

Nothing wrong with developing your own product on the side or "after hours", although be aware that at many startups most positions have some kind of operational component and/or tight deadlines, which might interfere with after hours projects. (Not all startups/small companies are like this of course).

Make sure that if you are developing something on your own time that it does not compete with the company's product line, you will often have to sign a contract to that effect. Along the same lines, be sure to have a clear line between things you develop for the company and things you develop for yourself - keep a separate machine for your own code, don't use your employer's equipment or even a personal machine with your employer's code checked out on it. The same advice goes for freelance projects.

[all]

I have worked at various levels of several different kinds of companies - everything from epoxies to hospices to ship management to pure software houses to educational institutions. I never learned so much about running a company as I did after reading Gerber's "E-Myth Revisited" and then starting out on my own company. Rather than go corporate, I recommend poring over the org charts and business models of several different kinds of businesses and follow the money. Figure out why they have hired the people they do and what function they serve in the nitty-gritty to serve the overall vision of the company. How do they make a customer? How do they deliver? When you can map each of these out on paper in the nitty-gritty, then you are ready to think about your own company, I say. But working in the corporate world will not necessarily help you with that. It will, however, give you contacts and a network that you can leverage. In addition to Gerber's book, I encourage you to take to heart Felix Dennis' "How to Get Rich", wherein he takes up the matter of working for someone else only enough to learn the business inside out so you can compete with them.

[al_]

I already read "How to get rich" ( Hint: It's not by working for your boss, so I think I have my answer ;) I understand it can be beneficial to work for a company, but I'm not sure if working as an engineer and being surrounded by engineers ( as smart as they are ) will help me significantly for my future startup. Thanks for the book recommandation, I'm going to order E-myth revisited right away.

[ashitvora]

Well, it depends on your needs, situation.

If you are not running after money but want to work for yourself (passion for being an entrepreneur), I would suggest you to take risk and start your own company. Try it for a year. I possible also have a co founder who's frequency matches with you but skill sets are complementary with yours.

If you need more money. Forget about starting a company now. Get few years of experience (4-5 yrs). And than start.

[starkfist]

I'm late to this. But in my experience you should start up your company while you can live with your parents. Don't bother with working for someone else's startup. Also, the 120-150 person mark is a really bad time. You have all the chaos and long hours of a startup, but all the weird political lameness of a big company at the same time.

[al_]

Is it a choice you had to do yourself as well ?

[barrydahlberg]

Go do the company. The older you get and the more assets and commitments you have the harder it is to take a big risk.

[AmberShah]

This is true but in my case my first "company" imploded from the weight of all the things I didn't know I didn't know.