Harj Taggar - Choosing a Startup to Work At
Working at a startup involves accepting lower pay and longer hours than stable large companies; Harj advises staying in a current role if these trade-offs are unappealing.
Paul Buchheit, a Y Combinator partner and early Google engineer, suggests that individuals content with their current compensation and workload should not switch to startups.
Job seekers should evaluate startups using an investor's framework, treating their time and energy as the capital investment.
Joining a successful startup provides accelerated career growth, access to more interesting colleagues, and an expanding professional network.
Interviewees should ask about current user counts and specific success metrics to assess the company's trajectory.
The growth trajectory is more critical than absolute current numbers; a company growing from $5,000 to $10,000 in monthly revenue is preferable to one stagnant at $1,000,000.
A company with flat revenue over 12 months is less attractive than one demonstrating rapid recent growth despite a smaller base.
Founders should be evaluated based on their outperformance relative to their specific peer groups rather than traditional credentials.
Educational prestige or prior employment at major corporations is less significant than a founder's ability to rise from humble beginnings.
Example: A 19-year-old founder from Milwaukee raising seed funding in Silicon Valley is viewed as more impressive than a Google engineer with 15 years of experience.
Unusual traits in founders often correlate with the potential to build outlier companies.
Evaluating the total market size is a common investor mistake that can lead to missing major opportunities like Airbnb.
Early-stage investors often rejected Airbnb because they perceived the market of "people sleeping in houses" as too limited.
The defining trait of great startups is a core group of early users who are fanatical about the product.
Candidates should speak directly with early users to gauge the depth of their passion, as strong sentiment in a small group is a significant positive signal.
Summary
Deciding to join a startup requires a deliberate assessment of personal tolerance for lower initial compensation and higher work intensity. Once committed to this path, candidates should prioritize three specific factors: the growth trajectory of the business over absolute current metrics, the founders' relative outperformance within their own context rather than their pedigree, and the intensity of passion among the company's current user base.