Startup struggle : exponential downward learning curve

I work in a startup. We're currently on an ongoing pivot. I started working here as a founding engineer. I have worked here for around 2 years now. Majorly i worked on frontend part with react native (which is totally a new thing for me when i joined). During my tenure here there was no senior engineer who could review my work and give me the skills i required to build my career. Our founder was happy if the app was working fine. During the initial phase we needed to launch the app as soon as possible so i quickly learned the basic things i needed to make an app with react native. In this time all of these things (js and web world) are very new to me as i was coming from developing native android apps with java. Now im trying to switch so that i can work with a team of experienced engineers. While attempting interviews for frontend engineer, I found that whatever I've done in my current job was nothing more than a college project and I really didn't got to learn any industry level stuff. I'm feeling like im still a fresher out of college. I tried working on my frontend skills but as we all know it's a very huge field. Html, css, js, frontend frameworks, hell lot of libraries. I'm feeling so overwhelmed. Whenever i attend a new interview i get to know new concepts which i never knew exist. Any suggestions for me guys?

Kalan Lee

Stealth

a year ago

What does the current company do? Any chance you might be able to continue here and build your skills up?

Jordon Carmden

Startup

a year ago

It's a fintech startup. They're actually wrapping up their current business and trying to think up some fresh ideas. But, the thing is, they still don't have a clue about what their next big venture will be. These days, our work routine is pretty predictable. We come into the office, sat down in our seats, and just wait around until they think new ideas. Then they want us to create these lead generation ad marketing websites for their latest potential pivot idea. Can you believe that? I've already built three of those sites for them! Honestly, I'm on the hunt for new opportunities because there's no future for me here I'm already feeling that I've wasted my time here. They're just holding on to me because they need someone to test out their ideas.

Kendall Dean

Stealth

a year ago

Are these sites used for something or just wasting your time? Was the app you built initially ever used by anyone?

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Coy Hyrum

TCS

a year ago

Many startup founding engineers share a common experience, so remember that you're not alone. Avoid feeling desperate for change. Instead, set a specific timeline to learn the technology you want to specialize in and work towards achieving that goal before considering a switch. Consider yourself fortunate that you're still working with the tech. My experience is I was pushed to "manage a team" of 2 people 🤣 and then bashed on bad code that founder himself approved days back. So, never ever become manager, lead or anything without any experience, it's just a trap to squeeze you Founding engineers with just 1-2 years of experience, are pushed into managerial roles without a clear rationale. They face criticism when their teams don't perform well. Even when they acquire management skills, they are often not given the chance to actually lead because the founder is reluctant to relinquish control over the team. This is the reality of Indian Startups.

Jordon Dean

Twitter

a year ago

Read some related open source projects on github. This will give you direction. Also, attend some talks/meetups.

Jordon Dean

Stealth

a year ago

Read about design patterns. They're tech stack agnostic and improve your code, though process

Jordon Lee

Startup

2 months ago

Any book?

Dezi Lee

Stealth

a year ago

Chill out yo! Learning is endless. Cracking interview and working are two different things. Even if you crack interview by learning new framework you will be asked to do sam bug fixing or some random feature. Learn for your knowledge expansion and to crack interview learn to just crack interviews. Peace ✌️