Most of you know that while I was going ahead and making a major life change by moving here, I decided to take things a step further and make a significant career change by trying life at a startup. Now that I've been here for about a month, I can say that day-to-day life is definitely different than at the behemoth I used to work for, and not just because there's free snacks in the kitchen. (As a sidenote, I received a registered letter from my former behemoth employer today, informing me that I owe them $135 to cover books from when I took a class last year. When I was getting ready to leave the company I checked with _both_ HR and Education Assistance to make sure everything was ok, and they told me there was nothing to worry about. Then, weeks later, I receive a letter threatening legal action if I don't pay them for something they didn't tell me I owed them for, something they could have easily withheld from my last paycheck. If they ever wanted me to even consider going back, they certainly don't know how to be convincing.)
Anyway, back to the main topic: What I've found in the last few weeks is that working for a startup still in survival mode is very much an always-on job. It's not that everyone works 24 hours a day, but we are all aware of work at all times, and can't really leave work at the office after 5 (or 7, or 10, as the case may be). The reality is that one seemingly minor wrong move could change the perception of some large customers we're starting to sign on, and from there it would be a quick slope towards looking for a new job.
Some of you may or may not know that I'm now working in the retail industry, in a way. Our CEO sat us all down last week with some very good news about some very big customers we're making progress on, and then laid it on the line for us: "Call your families and tell them you'll see them on December 26." The retail industry does the vast majority of its business in Q4, and the next 3 months are going to determine whether this place makes it big or falls on its face. Considering that on my previous project, I wrote code for almost two and a half years that never saw the light of day, it's amazing (and frightening!) to be in a situation where what I do actually makes a difference.
My love of leftovers
11 years ago
5 comments:
Long hours already? Yikes (says the seasoned, and lazy, startup veteran.)
Ah, Jason, so naive. Dr. M - you smell a little like fresh meat for the grinder that is San Francisco and Silicon Valley. MMmmm bacon. Ooh! Carne asada! But I digress.
As long as you enjoy the city, have lots of fun, and make a decent living while you're at it, though, I fully support you, brotha. Good times.
-N
You move to a beautiful city, set up your life, and then immediately begin living it in a cubicle for 3 months straight. Wow. That blows. Well, Paul Graham is always talking about how startups are the economy size version of pain when trying to generate wealth. I guess that means you won't be posting much on here in the future, huh?
Sorry, forgot the most important part.... Good luck with it all!
To be fair, I don't think it's going to be bad EVERY day. Even on the bad days, I'm in the office around 12 hours. I still get weekends, and there will be days where I work a normal schedule (there have been several already).
Oh, and we don't have cubicles... just the good ol' way-too-noisy-open-pen setup.
dude, awesome post.
That feeling that you're making a difference day in an day out is addicting, but the comment about never leaving work and "being on 24/7" is both a blessing and a pain in the ass.
I've found it's a balancing act.
Love your blog posts. Keep em' coming!
Post a Comment