HACKER Q&A
📣 silexrpr

Possible transition from co-founder to employee, advices or thoughts?


I been working at early stage startups for 10 years, on my first startup as the 3rd engineer and the last 2.5 years as a co-founder and CTO. Recently I been thinking of transition to become an employee in an already established tech company (because of money, burning out, and more).

Any thoughts or advice from someone that did the transition? Any regrets? Anything that you would do different?

Thanks,

  👤 codingdave Accepted Answer ✓
Have you ever worked at a larger company, or is all your experience in startups?

I ask because the culture is vastly different. Hierarchies and politics happen more and more as company sizes increase. The quality of leadership varies greatly and you see a lot more poor leaders focused on the bureaucracy which can be exceedingly frustrating if you have only ever worked in startups. At the same time, you also see more good leaders who make their little slice of the company a joyful area to work while shielding you from everything else. It all depends on exactly where you land and who your boss is.

That doesn't mean the transition is a bad idea. There is some peace and stability in getting a steady paycheck from a larger company. But you should realize that you are just trading one set of problems for another.