HACKER Q&A
📣 mrbooks180323

Experiences as an Early Employee at a Startup


Hi,

I'm curious to learn about your experiences as an early employee at a startup (e.g. <30 people). I'm considering such a move myself and would like to learn from other's experiences.

Leading questions: - Why did you decide to join that startup as an early employee?

- What did you like the most about it?

- What did you like the least about it?

- How did it work out for you as a learning opportunity?

- How did it work out for you financially? How much equity did you get?

- Was it a useful "experience" for starting your own startup as a later step?

- How long did you stay in the startup?

Thanks!

  👤 MilnerRoute Accepted Answer ✓
By the time I joined a startup in the 1990s, it was on its way to 100 employees. They were really grateful to everyone who kept them running, and set up a retirement plan with a really generous match. That alone made it worth it for me -- I maxxed out my contributions, and which then grew over the years.

Maybe the moral of the story is they can structure their compensation package in all kinds of ways -- and it really just depends on what they're ultimately offering you.