Who to live well in startups
Oddly enough, summer is coming - it's time to leave or search for a new job - as you like. But there is a category of employees who only dream about vacation - in particular, these are IT startups:
The enviers and pessimistic supporters of statistics like “80% of startups fail in the first 5 years” believe in the first option. The startupers themselves believe in the combination of the first two options: in general, yes, few projects take off, but ours will certainly take off. In the case of start-ups with excessively high self-esteem, this situation resembles a story with smokers who think that the inscription on the pack as a whole is correct, but that it will not affect them.
Whatever the statistics, whatever British scientists say, whatever horror stories about the "bursting bubble and unicorns" are told by analysts of the IT market, start-ups appear, and for one reason or another, someone even works in them, and not just drinking smoothies.
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Why do some IT professionals love younger companies, and some prefer more mature firms with social guarantees, soup and a 40-hour work week?
There may be a lot of answers. But it is unlikely that the most obvious of them will suit us - “it happened”. This is the same, if you ask the developer why he implemented the algorithm this way, and not otherwise: “It so happened.”
- Why then this algorithm does not work?
- Did not work out.
- How did you manage to finish university and become a programmer?
- It happened…
For those professionals who live more consciously and have their own opinion, the question of choosing between a startup and a mature company can really become relevant. When a specialist receives offers from several employers, he has to think and weigh the pros and cons. And if it is also unknown firms? Often, startups and more mature companies are often on different sides of the barricades.
Back in 2012, Steve Blanc, in his book “Startup Owner's Manual”, made his view on startups very clearly: “Most startups are crap.” This, in principle, could finish thinking and get a "normal" company. But inquisitive minds will want to go further in their reflections, and at a minimum, to carry out evidence from the contrary.
In the civilized world, with the advent of the Internet, a generation of specific employees has emerged - a speech about freelancers, and not about those who like to “like” social networks during working hours. In Russia, both those and others are also present in large quantities.
Often, two foreign words - “startup” and “freelancer” are found in the same sentence. Most freelancers and startups are young people and easily find a common language between themselves: the creators of a startup sometimes have nothing but “ideas for a million”: neither money, nor teams, nor connections. They often do not have a clear mode of operation, and even more so, the office. Therefore, it will be convenient for this category of employees to work with startups on part-time, occasionally.
There is another category of specialists that a startup can approach - young people without a personal life, desperately seeking to change the world. And the faster - the better. Money is not particularly important for them - interesting tasks are important. They sleep and see how to get into the main “backbone” of any startup from Silicon Valley, where everyone plows 50-60 hours a week. If you can not get there, they will choose the Russian equivalent. Moreover, now a wave of import substitution is rolling all over the country.
Working in a startup, you can try yourself in different "positions", since the job structure, as such, often does not yet exist at the stage of the startup development. There are no four management levels between the employee and the founders. Therefore, as the project grows, an employee can quickly get the opportunity to lead new teams and departments, open new offices and do everything that is part of plans for scaling up a successful business.
People from technology companies are more likely to rate those who were in the company before an IPO or takeover than those who joined the team immediately after such transactions. If a specialist on time joined the winning team, the more valuable he will be in the market.
Why should a young software developer start in a startup, and not in a more mature company?
Supporters of work in mature and large companies in response to the above arguments immediately pulled out of their sleeves one of the main trump cards - stability. Social guarantees, paid holidays, free buns, a gym and other bonuses usually adjoin here.
Even the most hardcore developers are still (still) people, not cyborgs. For many of them, a sense of safety, stability and comfort play an important role.
Projects in such companies are often larger, more complex, and have a long-term development plan. In many cases, software is developed not “on the knee”, but with the use of serious industrial development systems. If you are interested in working with large systems, then large companies can offer greater flexibility. A well-known developer and former employee of Microsoft, Google, and a number of software startups in the United States, Dan Lu, wrote that in one of his past works he came across a project with a nine-digit approved budget that was not even sharpened to generate revenue for the company.
It was just a specific area of ​​research, close to the interests of the company, and this infrastructure project would allow it to move faster. If a company already generates income for a certain number of billions a year, such projects are easy to promote. That is, the project, whose goal was to accelerate another research project, was approved. It is known that in Russia such projects are being implemented, for example, by the company Yandex.
Startups simply do not own such funds to be scattered on research projects that are not essential for their business. Many of the problems that startups suffer in large companies would cause a grin.
If you are worried about the monetary exhaust from the implementation of developments, then in large companies it is significantly higher, considering what means they use, Lu writes.
In addition to cash exhausts, there are values ​​such as experience. In a startup, everything in your hands is burning, and you are doing everything to inflate this fire. But there is no time for a deep and meaningful analysis. Having time to deepen and rethink their knowledge and skills in various areas is also one of the advantages in working in medium and large companies.
Why should a young software developer start not in a startup, but in a more mature company?
The above views are certainly not exhaustive discussion about the working conditions in start-ups and mature companies. Sometimes there are unexpected alternative opinions. Someone will say that it is best to be in hiring for the sake of high wages and quickly open your business. And someone will say that it is better not to work anywhere, to lie on the stove and live on the interest from the bank deposit.
So, to critically criticize all the options, except for the currently selected one, it would not be entirely far-sighted. After all, the same person can, by the will of fate, be in the most unfavorable position at first sight. Optimists call this career growth "wide and deep."
Returning to the title of the article, I want to remember that in IT there are not only software developers, but also testers, project managers, web designers, interface designers, Internet marketers, and many others.
Surely among the readers there are representatives of all sorts of, even the most outlandish, specialties related to IT. Please express your position, share your personal experience. If the survey does not have a suitable answer, write your own version in the comments.
- either selflessly moving their product to failure,
- either to All-Union glory.
The enviers and pessimistic supporters of statistics like “80% of startups fail in the first 5 years” believe in the first option. The startupers themselves believe in the combination of the first two options: in general, yes, few projects take off, but ours will certainly take off. In the case of start-ups with excessively high self-esteem, this situation resembles a story with smokers who think that the inscription on the pack as a whole is correct, but that it will not affect them.
Whatever the statistics, whatever British scientists say, whatever horror stories about the "bursting bubble and unicorns" are told by analysts of the IT market, start-ups appear, and for one reason or another, someone even works in them, and not just drinking smoothies.
')
Why do some IT professionals love younger companies, and some prefer more mature firms with social guarantees, soup and a 40-hour work week?
It happened
There may be a lot of answers. But it is unlikely that the most obvious of them will suit us - “it happened”. This is the same, if you ask the developer why he implemented the algorithm this way, and not otherwise: “It so happened.”
- Why then this algorithm does not work?
- Did not work out.
- How did you manage to finish university and become a programmer?
- It happened…
For those professionals who live more consciously and have their own opinion, the question of choosing between a startup and a mature company can really become relevant. When a specialist receives offers from several employers, he has to think and weigh the pros and cons. And if it is also unknown firms? Often, startups and more mature companies are often on different sides of the barricades.
Back in 2012, Steve Blanc, in his book “Startup Owner's Manual”, made his view on startups very clearly: “Most startups are crap.” This, in principle, could finish thinking and get a "normal" company. But inquisitive minds will want to go further in their reflections, and at a minimum, to carry out evidence from the contrary.
Proof by contradiction
In the civilized world, with the advent of the Internet, a generation of specific employees has emerged - a speech about freelancers, and not about those who like to “like” social networks during working hours. In Russia, both those and others are also present in large quantities.
Often, two foreign words - “startup” and “freelancer” are found in the same sentence. Most freelancers and startups are young people and easily find a common language between themselves: the creators of a startup sometimes have nothing but “ideas for a million”: neither money, nor teams, nor connections. They often do not have a clear mode of operation, and even more so, the office. Therefore, it will be convenient for this category of employees to work with startups on part-time, occasionally.
There is another category of specialists that a startup can approach - young people without a personal life, desperately seeking to change the world. And the faster - the better. Money is not particularly important for them - interesting tasks are important. They sleep and see how to get into the main “backbone” of any startup from Silicon Valley, where everyone plows 50-60 hours a week. If you can not get there, they will choose the Russian equivalent. Moreover, now a wave of import substitution is rolling all over the country.
Working in a startup, you can try yourself in different "positions", since the job structure, as such, often does not yet exist at the stage of the startup development. There are no four management levels between the employee and the founders. Therefore, as the project grows, an employee can quickly get the opportunity to lead new teams and departments, open new offices and do everything that is part of plans for scaling up a successful business.
People from technology companies are more likely to rate those who were in the company before an IPO or takeover than those who joined the team immediately after such transactions. If a specialist on time joined the winning team, the more valuable he will be in the market.
Today, on the side of startups, technical director of Qlean online service , Anatoly Demidov
Why should a young software developer start in a startup, and not in a more mature company?
In the question of choosing a job categorical to be difficult. During a search, both a novice and an experienced developer should look first not at the size of the company, brand awareness and social package (although this is important), but at the product, the development structure, and the tasks that can be set for it. And try to understand as clearly as possible what a person can give a company, whether it is suitable for the tasks under discussion, and whether it is interesting to him all that.Why should an experienced specialist in a high-wage software developer go to a startup with a non-guaranteed payment?
The most important thing for a beginner is experience and people who can convey this experience; therefore, I would advise more often to go to interviews in different companies, including start-ups. This, by the way, greatly broadens the mind, and helps to better know your own strengths and weaknesses.
What can a startup be interesting for a junior? First of all, by the fact that he will be able to pay more attention to such a team, set more serious tasks - in a big company he risks doing something for a half a year. In addition, if a newcomer in a startup feels his strength and ability to take on more complex tasks, he wants to grow - he can do it much faster than in a corporation with its clear structure and bureaucracy.
If you are a professional, but stayed up in a big company, are tired of bureaucracy, switching to a startup can be a breath of fresh air and a good shake for you. In addition, in large companies there is often nowhere to grow and it is difficult to try something new, to take on more responsibility - all the roles are distributed for years to come. In such a situation, work in a startup is also a better option. Better can only be creating and building your own business.
Stability is a sign of excellence
Supporters of work in mature and large companies in response to the above arguments immediately pulled out of their sleeves one of the main trump cards - stability. Social guarantees, paid holidays, free buns, a gym and other bonuses usually adjoin here.
Even the most hardcore developers are still (still) people, not cyborgs. For many of them, a sense of safety, stability and comfort play an important role.
Projects in such companies are often larger, more complex, and have a long-term development plan. In many cases, software is developed not “on the knee”, but with the use of serious industrial development systems. If you are interested in working with large systems, then large companies can offer greater flexibility. A well-known developer and former employee of Microsoft, Google, and a number of software startups in the United States, Dan Lu, wrote that in one of his past works he came across a project with a nine-digit approved budget that was not even sharpened to generate revenue for the company.
It was just a specific area of ​​research, close to the interests of the company, and this infrastructure project would allow it to move faster. If a company already generates income for a certain number of billions a year, such projects are easy to promote. That is, the project, whose goal was to accelerate another research project, was approved. It is known that in Russia such projects are being implemented, for example, by the company Yandex.
Startups simply do not own such funds to be scattered on research projects that are not essential for their business. Many of the problems that startups suffer in large companies would cause a grin.
If you are worried about the monetary exhaust from the implementation of developments, then in large companies it is significantly higher, considering what means they use, Lu writes.
In addition to cash exhausts, there are values ​​such as experience. In a startup, everything in your hands is burning, and you are doing everything to inflate this fire. But there is no time for a deep and meaningful analysis. Having time to deepen and rethink their knowledge and skills in various areas is also one of the advantages in working in medium and large companies.
Today, on the side of mature and stable companies is the technical director of the Redmadrobot mobile application development company Arthur Sakharov.
Why should a young software developer start not in a startup, but in a more mature company?
For the young specialist is extremely important, from whom to learn. In a large company, even within the framework of one profession, there are many professionals with different points of view and different experience, and all this needs to be learned at the first stage. It is required to receive feedback from living people, to discuss and change decisions, through Stackoverflow all this cannot be done.Why should a software developer who has gained experience in a startup switch to a more mature company?
The hypothesis testing cycle in the IT project. When you see how the chosen solutions show themselves in life, you can effectively correct them in the next project. In a large company, in relatively short time it is possible to go through many cycles and learn a lot, as many projects are being conducted in parallel. In a startup, as a rule, the product is one, and the feedback loop is stretched.
Usually, medium and large companies create conditions for the development of young employees. Make up standards, conduct training. Much is set up so that children's mistakes do not go far, and the specialist got rid of them as quickly as possible. In a startup, you are usually one-on-one with your task, and you work without the necessary restrictions and conditions for growth.
I can judge by interviews, a large proportion of which is held just with developers from startups. At first it is quite interesting to work in a startup - unfamiliar tasks, a new product, a mountain of enthusiasm. Then, as a rule, the guys rest on their development and in the search for knowledge go to the conference en masse (all IT events are filled with such developers).
In parallel, it’s more boring to develop one product, and at some point the guys go looking for work in companies larger or in a new startup. The level of technical competence at their output, as a rule, is rather low, and even developers with two years of experience, according to our criteria, are often only suitable for the junior position.
Of course, this situation does not suit them, and they go to a new startup, to freelancing and, of course, they sign up for new conferences.
There is good where we are not
The above views are certainly not exhaustive discussion about the working conditions in start-ups and mature companies. Sometimes there are unexpected alternative opinions. Someone will say that it is best to be in hiring for the sake of high wages and quickly open your business. And someone will say that it is better not to work anywhere, to lie on the stove and live on the interest from the bank deposit.
So, to critically criticize all the options, except for the currently selected one, it would not be entirely far-sighted. After all, the same person can, by the will of fate, be in the most unfavorable position at first sight. Optimists call this career growth "wide and deep."
Returning to the title of the article, I want to remember that in IT there are not only software developers, but also testers, project managers, web designers, interface designers, Internet marketers, and many others.
Surely among the readers there are representatives of all sorts of, even the most outlandish, specialties related to IT. Please express your position, share your personal experience. If the survey does not have a suitable answer, write your own version in the comments.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/301908/
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