For all the startup employees, here's a Post for You

I've been observing a concerning trend lately on this platform, and I believe it's high time we rethink the way we treat startup founders. Take a moment to consider the dedication and courage it takes to leave a secure job and venture into the world of entrepreneurship. I feel Companies like Dukaan, AppX etc were unnecessarily mocked here based on one side of opinion, I've had the privilege of working closely with a startup's CTO for the past two years, and it's been an eye-opening experience. Startups are like fragile ecosystems where every member plays a crucial role. However, what I've noticed is that sometimes employees who find it challenging to keep up with the dynamic startup environment tend to cast blame on the founders and the company culture. Let's remember, every startup is a journey of learning, growth, and innovation. Founders make mistakes, learn from them, and strive to create something meaningful. They invest their time, energy, and resources into building something from scratch. Instead of mocking them, we should applaud their courage and determination. But, what's even more disheartening is the toxic behavior exhibited by some employees here on Grapevine. It's disheartening to see individuals intentionally targeting someone's reputation due to personal grudges. Instead of resorting to negativity, let's try to understand the challenges startup founders face. Put yourself in their shoes; empathize with the pressure, uncertainty, and sleepless nights they endure to bring their visions to life. We should strive to be a community that supports and uplifts one another, especially those who are trying to make a difference in the business world. Let's promote constructive criticism and empathy, recognizing that we all have our unique journeys, struggles, and successes. #SupportStartups #EmpathyMatters #GrapevineCommunity 🌟

Professional career related advice

I think I'm losing my mind. I'm a 32-year-old guy in tech, graduated from IIIT Delhi, earning 78L annually, but I feel like I'm fooling everyone, including myself. It's as if I'm constantly waiting for someone to burst into the office and shout, "Hey, fraud! We've finally figured out you're actually useless!" I know it sounds like I'm humble-bragging, but trust me, I'm not. This feeling is eating me alive. Seven years ago, I started as a regular software engineer. Somehow, I kept getting promoted. Now I'm leading a team of 15 people, handling critical projects, and sitting in meetings with the higher-ups. But every time I'm in those meetings, I feel like a kid wearing his dad's oversized suit, pretending to be an adult. I work my ass off - late nights, weekends, you name it. But I always feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water. When my team comes to me with problems, I'm secretly panicking, thinking, "Why are you asking me? I'm as clueless as you!" The worst part? Everyone around me seems to think I'm some kind of wunderkind. My boss is always praising me in front of others. My team looks up to me. Even my parents are bragging about me to all our relatives. But inside, I'm constantly terrified that I'll make one tiny mistake and everyone will realize I'm a fraud. I see my college batchmates on LinkedIn, and they all seem so confident and successful. Meanwhile, I'm here, earning more than I ever thought I would, but feeling like I don't deserve any of it. I can't even enjoy my success. I bought a nice house last year, but instead of feeling proud, I keep thinking, "What if they fire me tomorrow? How will I pay for this?" It's like I'm waiting for everything to come crashing down. I know it's ridiculous to complain about a high-paying job when so many people are struggling. But this constant fear of being "found out" is driving me insane. I can't even talk to my friends about it because they'll probably think I'm just showing off. Has anyone else felt like this? How do you deal with feeling like a fraud when everyone thinks you're successful? Is this just part of adult life that no one talks about? This is what eats me alive during weekends, realised it's Friday and panic typed this here

I graduated last year with no job offer from college. And started job hunting, I had 3 internship experiences, still not getting any job. But last December 2022 i got a call from the founder of the early stage startup( bootstrapped), gave a live coding round, and got selected within a day, even in this horrible job market with 7 lpa. Now the amazing part is that the technical co-founder was working as a consultant themself for a company and paying me and 2 other peeps from his own salary and still no expectations of overtime and good flexibility, unlimited paid leave,and then after working there for 9 months, finally the founders got funding but now they decided to move to wfo from wfh(with a considerate increment to employees), with which I was not comfortable because I have to relocate (and I have a medication going on from a very specialized doctor from my city), so decided to part ways. And from the past 3 months, i am job hunting, but not even getting an equal opportunity, those 7 lpa feels like 24 lpa coming from a founder who was working a day job to give me and other that opportunity. This post is an appreciation for all those founders who are working a job or hustling and running a startup in their spare time. Best wishes to you peeps, you may succeed in all pursuits of life. P.s- The founder gave me 6 days salary also which was equal to my first internship stipend.

For me: Keep the employees happy

We evolved to live in small tribes and now live outside of our natural habitat, in an advanced civilization. One effect of this mismatch is that there are a bunch of things that feel dangerous to us that aren't actually dangerous, leading us to be way too risk averse. Like: - Asking someone out on a date - Trying something new even though you'll suck at it at first - Quitting your job to start a company or try a career in the arts - Putting your real voice out there on controversial topics For primates living in a small tribe, rejection, embarrassment, failure, and criticism posed actual material dangers. These things are not dangerous today, but our software hasn't been updated. So we miss out on living our best life, hiding in the 1-4 zone of the danger scale. In a world of overly risk averse people, the epiphany that the 4-7 zone is actually a safe place to play is a superpower.

So basically I don't hesitate in challenging the interviewer if I feel like they don't know how to interview a senior candidate so during many interviews, this is how I have caught them off guard: 1. The interviewer was asking me technical questions and expecting to explain properly throughout. So at the end i asked him about the tech stack they use, he said Azure. I asked him why they use Azure and not AWS, to which he said "it's cheaper", i didn't let it go, i asked him for a proper technical explanation, his red face was worth seeing. 2. The interview asked me a hard DSA question, and I wasn't able to solve it properly, he didn't even give me enough hints, just expected me to solve it. So halfway I asked him, would you like to solve a DSA if I ask you right now, he said no because it's not his interview. To which I asked, are you afraid that you won't be able to solve? If you are going to reject me for not solving this question, would you resign if you aren't able to solve the question. He ended the call. 3. One interviewer was asking me absurd technical detailed questions. I asked him why are you asking such questions, he said he needs to know my thought process because he will work with me. I started asking him similar questions, he said he won't answer because it's not his interview. I said I also need to know your thought process because we'll work together, so you should also answer these questions, he had no reply. 4. The interviewer asked me about a challenging project that I had done recently. I don't like this question at all. So I said there wasn't any challenging project because I'm good at what I do so it's always easy for me. He moved on to the next question. 5. HR asked me why I resigned without an offer? I asked if it's mandatory? No reply.

Being anonymous gives me a safe space. But life is getting tougher than ever each day. I wish I had a better paying job. I wish I had time to have slow mornings. I wish I could provide for my family and give them the things they much deserve. I wish I had a chance to rewire rewind and restart. I wish I could do more than I wish to do. It's all wishes guys . It's all hopes. . Nothing seems fulfilling. Nothing seems to make me happy. I have forgotten what carefree days were like. Adulting is kinda hitting hard. I am not able to cope up. Can someone relate?

My life has been fucked up from last 10 months. Too much work pressure and workload with daily grilling by seniors. Recently I interviewed with a research advisory, was hopeful that i have a chance to change my life by leaving this place. But after 3 rounds, I got rejected by the partner. Feeling disheartened and depressed. My confidence is at the bottom right now. Don't know now where to go and apply. It seems that I am helpless now.