This one’s for the startup people

Hey guys! So an early career professional here. Currently, have around 6 month of work experience as a frontend dev in an early stage startup. I have been coding decently here, worked on features, customer bugs etc. but the work has started to feel quite repetitive and the workplace also feels like a feature factory now. I have two questions. a) what actionable things can I actually do to work on some new or interesting stuff b) has the experience been the same for you folks or are there any places in India where you actually learn and grow a lot as an engineer and not end up just endlessly shipping features

To the people who've experienced both ends of spectrum, as an new grad, which is better overall?

I see so many folks complaining about status quo around where they work. Very curious to understand what are your expectations from a startup and the founders. This may help us get what we want from startup founders here. In the comment, highlight what you want and what you're willing to give.

Hi everyone, I joined a startup back in May which started in May itself. I wrote the first line of code and it has been the backend work since then and have hired a few interns along the way. I took some pay cut to join this startup and i didn't receive any share/ESOPs as well in my offer letter. but whenever i talk to my friends who have worked or are working in these types of companies, ask me to ask for the ESOPs/equity from my founder. I did talk about equity/ESOPs before accepting my offer letter but that time, they said, you will be issued ESOPs later on when we raise some funding. We will make some ESOPs plan when we raise funding. I know that our company has only raised friends and family round of amount near to 1cr. Now I need advice on.. should i bring up this conversation again with the company's founder ? And how much percentage of equity should I be asking..? given that I am giving my 101% daily and leading the backend team.. although i have industry experience of only 3 years but have good academic achievements and has completed graduation in computer science in tier-1 college.

I've been in startups for the last 8 years. From Series B/C onwards to even a unicorn, over time worked at 3. One of them was an outright scam, raised many millions of $s from top investors, and then ultimately died. Also close with CXOs at decent sized startups, and there is a pattern out there. A few thoughts: 1. Being a startup founder is tough. There's pain. Some people thrive in pain. AKA Masochists. Know how to spot a founder who works 15 hours a day because they love their vision vs. somebody who works 15 hours a day because they're masochists. These people thrive in pain, and hence love to see you miserable as you slog away the hours under their leadership. There is absolutely no vision for the future that they have. They do it for the fame, money, and cause a lot of pain in the process. Nothing good comes out of it. Investors love this breed. 2. I wish I'd done more than just leave the scammy startup. At the point, I decided against whistleblowing. Because I thought there's so many people employed here, they would all be impacted. Over time, 200-300 people more joined after I left. Once the scam was caught, all of them lost their jobs. 3. I'm not a coder. I'm a generalist. Over time, my pay grew but not in line with my peers who went into consulting/VC and then came back to big tech/startups. Over time, you disadvantage yourself if you stick around as a generalist in startups for too long. The next team pays you at some premium over the last one, there's no step jump. You need to somehow find a successful startup early, and genuinely, that is impossible to game - even VCs have to bet on 20 to get it right. These are a few disjointed thoughts. I hope they give some insight. My only takeaways: - If you work at a scammy startup, don't stand it. At least, don't stick around. - I earn lesser than my peers (tier 1 undergrad), but I regret nothing. I love my work, and I'll never get over the kick. I cannot imagine working at a larger company ever again. - Ultimately, you have to be optimistic. Believe that India will grow, good founders will come around, magic will happen ❤️

Ask me anything except my company name, or things that can reveal my identity. I may respectfully choose not to respond to your question based on my own judgement. Here’s a brief intro about me: I’ve worked as both software engineering manager & software technical architect over the last 18+ years on various tech stacks managing backend, frontend and a little bit of cloud. I have seen ups and downs in the software industry. Currently I’m working as a senior architect in one of the product based companies in India.

I am a 4th year Btech student and I have completed my internship from Infosys as well. I will be graduating in 2025. Any placement opportunities at a startup? Kindly let me know Is there any website to apply for startup companies?

As a software engineer considering joining a startup or company, what are the essential questions you recommend asking HR or the CEO to gain insights into the company culture, growth opportunities, and overall work environment? And whether to join there or not. Please share your experiences or any red flag you noticed, would be very helpful for our community. Thanks in advance

I work at a startup and have been here for more than 7 years. I joined right after graduating from a tier 1 engineering college (one of the old IITs). I was the first team member after the founders and now hold the position of non tech CXO in the company. The startup has grown significantly, not in traditional funding terms but in actual business. I have dedicated countless days and nights to growing this company, hardly taking a single day off in the initial 4 years, and often working more than 10 hours daily. My salary has increased proportionately to what I should be paid (>65 LPA), and I also have decent ESOPs in the company, which could be worth anywhere between 2 to 4 crores depending on the valuation at which we raise funds. However, I don’t count ESOPs as real money. In the next 10 years, it's going to be a very big thing, and I am glad to be part of it. Many of my friends, who have done MBA from IIMs and worked at BCG or Bain, are craving for the position I am in. But I feel FOMO about not trying anything else in life. It's like achieving decent success on the first try. I use the word "decent" and not "crazy" because it's not crazy success. What do I want ideally? I'd like to take a 6-month break and then figure out my next steps. Maybe start something new or join another company at a leadership level. But I am too afraid of not getting the same opportunities and ending up struggling. Thus the question: Is there any agency that works specifically to help you get a job at a CXO position? How does it work? Can a non-MBA with 8 years of work experience get a CXO position at a decently big company (>300-500 crores in revenue)?