SubtleRed

To startup or not

I am from a Tier 1 engineering college. Have done multiple stints in education and ed tech and am now at a VP position at a mid size edu company. Earning 50 LPA post 8 years of Work Ex. I can keep going at this rate and will have a comfortable life and also be in leadership positions which I enjoy. However I have been tempted to start up to have a shot at exponential gains in life- whether that is growth, money or influence over others. But then sanity also says most startups fail and why you want to spoil a good path. Anyone else faced this constant oscillation and how do you think about it or go about addressing it

14mo ago

PastElevator

My own bussiness14mo

Use regret minimisation framework

10 years or even 30 years: will you regret starting up and failing (max losing 2 yrs of earnings - can always get a job again) OR not even trying

Was in same boat. 8yoe, tier 1 college, Great salary and work opportunities. But decided to go Full time on my startup now. Key things needed

conviction on what you want to build as a company (problem/user/space)
co founders (or early team) who can build with you
you will try for 1.5-2 years regardless of funding. You will ensure you launch something quick and then iterate/pivot. Also have milestones every 6 months to decide whether to continue/pivot/stop

Basically- most people optimise on how to lose small… better bet is to optimise on how to win big. Its an asymmetric bet - high upside.low downside. Worst case join at a similar level after 2 years - you will still have a profile and learnings that <5% of your peers will have.

Plus early stage founders will prefer you

SubtleRed

Stealth14mo

Thanks super helpful

LastDanceWithMJ

Stealth14mo

From my limited experience, always better to find some kind of fit as a side project before committing fulltime. It's simply better risk management.

You got any ideas that excite you or is it purely coming from the exponential return angle (which are certainly uncertain)? Hmu if you have bandwidth to give 10-20 hours per week on the side...

SubtleRed

Stealth14mo

Hmm good advice. Yeah sure let me know where to reach out

TepidRocket

Google14mo

Attract people with complimentary skills (sales/marketing). Helps validate your idea.
With your higher current salary, the opportunity cost is higher. Which is also a good thing.
Try to sell with minimal/no product to guage interest in market.
Engineers usually have the itch to build functionality as we don't like to meet people outside to sell.

Try as long as your savings allow you. Good luck!

UnknownLeg37

Google14mo

If your idea involves Edtech then you should consider not starting up at all.

SaveBugs

Stealth14mo

Stick to the current rate, no start-ups. They are traps

Discover more

Curated from across

Roger20Tredence17mo

Biggest dilemma of my life

I am 3 years into my career and I have deep passion for Software engineering. I genuinely like it. I want to become a better engineer by going deep. But since the time of my internships in college, I have always been fascinated by startu...