There is way more than one lesson to learn from each startup. You will hopefully learn how to hire (and possibly fire) people. You will get insight into the nitty gritty of keeping the lights on at a company (taxes, payroll, office leases, etc...), and you will get familiar with the typical fundraising cycle. Most people don't appreciate how fast 18 months to two years of funding can run out. Going through that stuff once or twice when you don't have the pressure of being the founder can be very beneficial. And while going through an accelerator can be a substitute, I can't imagine that encountering a lot of this stuff for the first time while trying to start your first company would be anything less then very stressful.
For most employees, the best deal for them financially is to go the FAANG route. But I absolutely recommend working at a startup if you are hoping to one day start your own. It should be said that most startup employees are not going to start their own company (even ones who think they will). So certainly keep that in mind. But I suppose another benefit is working at a startup is probably a good way to gauge if starting a startup is something you could handle. After having worked at one for a while, I have certainly come to more realistic understanding of what kind of startup I would be comfortable founding. I almost certainly would prefer to bootstrap a small project rather than go the VC route, but I think I would feel pretty comfortable taking VC money if the opportunity called for it. But I have also come to realize that the best fit for me in my next role is probably not as a founder, but most likely as a very early employee of another startup. But this time around I will have a much better idea of what to look for in the founding team.
I've worked at multiple startups before starting my own, some were more useful than others. In my experience only in lead or above positions do you actually get exposure to these things - a random IC doesn't really get much insight into the company's finances, raising, negotiations, hiring, etc.
From those I was a lead at I got some valuable experience (including what not to do) & also contacts (some former director/C-level people I'm still in touch with). I still learned the vast majority from actually having to handle it myself in my own startup but I think I would have learned even less (in that particular area) if I was working at amazon or google before instead.
Fair enough. I am an IC, but also an early-ish employee. And the startup I currently work at might be anomalous in how much they share about the company. With that said, if you are joining a startup to get founder level experiences, you almost certainly have some agency in this matter (that is kinda the point of working at a startup after all, you get more input and higher level input than at BigCo.) Go out and talk to folks about what they are working on. Ask the founders to share details about the company, including board slides, financial details, and product initiatives. If they don't oblige, it probably makes sense to work somewhere else.
Is more more useful than having a longer runway from big co savings?
Doubtful.
Most of the lessons you learn are either going to be
1. General startup lessons (This information is available in YC Startup School, lean startup, etc...)
2. Lessons specific to the problem you're trying to solve (Whats the best way to reach rural RV buyers, what keeps people from renting a room for a night)
Working at a startup will teach you a little of 1, and none of 2.
So I'd easily trade the knowledge gained during two years of working at previous startup for 2 extra months of working on my startup.
> Is more more useful than having a longer runway from big co savings? Doubtful.
Having worked at a startup before, I now know to never risk a substantial amount of my own money on the venture. The risk of failure is too high. I would either a) go the side project->bootstrap route or b) have angel or accelerator money lined up, which should be easy because having worked at a startup before, my network now includes angel investors.
> This information is available in YC Startup School, lean startup, etc...
I have participated in Startup School. It certainly has some value, but it is in no way a substitute for working at a startup. Not even close. Also, your competitors have access to the same resources, so it is not exactly a competitive edge.
> Whats the best way to reach rural RV buyers, what keeps people from renting a room for a night
That is called marketing and market research. Almost every startup in existence does it. And if you work at a startup, you will get a close up look at how it is done, and you will get some valuable lessons on what to do and what not to do. And having worked at a startup, I now also have a list of potential freelancers in case I wanted to contract that work out.
What position were you in that you worked closely with the marketing team and the angel investors?
I was a dev, so I never interacted with either of those groups closely. And when I started my own startup our dev doesn't really interact with marketing and has never met our investors.
Engineer. Employee #7. Maybe as an addendum to my above comments, my startup is fairly open about all of our operations. Other than peoples salaries, pretty much everything about the company is discussed at our all hands. Additionally I just like to ask people what they are working on. It is a good conversation starter.
Maybe another lesson here, is if you are running a startup, consider oversharing with your employees. A fair number of them may be there because they are trying to figure out if the next step for them is founding a company. And oversharing is a good way to keep them engaged. I have been at my current startup for 6-7 years, and would definitely not have stuck around this long had I not felt like I was learning much.
For most employees, the best deal for them financially is to go the FAANG route. But I absolutely recommend working at a startup if you are hoping to one day start your own. It should be said that most startup employees are not going to start their own company (even ones who think they will). So certainly keep that in mind. But I suppose another benefit is working at a startup is probably a good way to gauge if starting a startup is something you could handle. After having worked at one for a while, I have certainly come to more realistic understanding of what kind of startup I would be comfortable founding. I almost certainly would prefer to bootstrap a small project rather than go the VC route, but I think I would feel pretty comfortable taking VC money if the opportunity called for it. But I have also come to realize that the best fit for me in my next role is probably not as a founder, but most likely as a very early employee of another startup. But this time around I will have a much better idea of what to look for in the founding team.