As long as it’s not somewhere like in the middle of Nebraska.
Again, I prefer to find out what industry/company that I would enjoy the most, before graduation. I have no prior experiences with a startup, so I want to learn more about how a startup operates.
The risk of crashing and burning is really the least of your worries, simply because they hire and fire on a whim and the likelihood of any stability is minimal. You don’t even know if they’re hiring, and to be perfectly honest it’s probably true that they don’t either, not yet at least.
Working at a startup is nothing special, and that is especially true if you don’t have a few years of experience at a bigger, more established company so that you can have enough leverage to demand better conditions from them. They are growing businesses, frantically trying to make ends meet and establish their long-term existence. The day-to-day tasks are really quite the same as they are at a larger company. The biggest differences are that there is less bureaucracy (not always a good thing, but it can be if the founders know what they are doing) and less refinement in how they do things.
I understand the appeal of working in a startup because I’ve been there before. But:
I do very much understand the appeal of a startup, and it does seem that at least for the moment you seem to be dead set on working for one. But give it some thought, because we all have good reasons for telling you that now is not the right time to go work there.
Also, that other company is probably not your only option. Look around a bit more. Even the best students have a pretty shoddy success rate when it comes to getting offers, and 0 out of 2 is generally more likely than not.
It’s tough. I did a few but there was one I was working 9-9 m-f and also Saturday. I last one year and I left. I figured if the stock options worth anything then 25% is still good enough. That’s one of my regrets. I left a bigger company with lots of money and stock options, but the startup was vapor ware. I even lost money on it. I was convinced it would worth something so I exercised the stock options for tax purpose. I lost the money because the stocks were worthless in the end.
But it’s my nature, I take excessive risk. I’m a risk taker. But things didn’t always turned out the way I wanted. That’s why it’s called risk.
It would be less risky to get into an unstable start-up when I’m living by myself and used to living cheap, rather than already dating or having a family.
If I don’t get an offer from either companies, I don’t really mind, as long as I eventually get hired for a summer 2016 internship, or another spring semester co-op.
I already have a spring-summer co-op experience with my current employer, and some part-time programming work with professors before that.
Well it’s risky in terms of opportunity cost. My post is in response to what it likes to work for startup. As long as you willing to live on $30 a month like Elon Musk then you have no problem.
The “conventional wisdom” that you have to live on pennies to be willing to go into startups is misguided, and probably more harmful than people would like to admit. Sure, you might have to live on 25-50% less money, but 50-75% of an engineer’s salary is a far cry from living cheaply, especially if you have a second income (i.e. a wife who works). You might notice that many of the most successful startup founders come from families with a comfortable income, or else that they only succeed after they have money to work with.
The idea that a family makes startups harder is a lie that people tell themselves to hide the fact that they are risk-averse, or that they are neglectful spouses/parents. Having a stable position in life is always very helpful, if you’re capable of knowing how to plan ahead instead of just jumping head-first and hoping things will work out (which is what most youth do and part of why things tend to work out badly).
But you seem to be 100% sure that you want to go for the startup route, which makes me wonder what you actually want us to help you with.
It’s not the salary while working for startup. It’s what happens when start up failed, my husband and I experience this for one year together during the dot com bust. Lots of engineers did. I still know one friend who has not being employed since 2001. He had too much pride to try anything different from what he was doing.
Again, I just want to get some experience before graduation, and should I ever consider working for a startup after graduation, I’ll know how it would operate. If I didn’t enjoy working at the startup as a part-time co-op, then I’ll likely avoid another startup in the future.
At my current employer, a multinational corporation, I had access to trainings that my university couldn’t offer, but the bureaucracy was a bit suffocating at times. Such as waiting for over a week to have an AutoCAD license transferred to my laptop and thus being unable to help with a project.
NeoDymium: It may seem like I’m being stubborn, but I assumed that it would be low-risk if I try it as a college student for 1-2 semesters, rather than post-graduation as a full-time job. Assuming they’re very interested in me.
I have read all of the posts so far in this thread, and the information is helping me plan out this situation.
@NeoDymium – that Michael Church link you posted in #16 is a great read. Should be re-posted in the “unpaid internship” thread.
HarvestMoon1: I agree with you. I read through it as well, and I’ll definitely forward it to an acquaintance who has future plans of creating a startup (especially with the section that talks about the VC funds).
Although I’m not exactly sure how much of it is still applicable when I only intend on sticking around for one or two semesters and finding a different internship for the 2016 summer.
I agree --but at the same time I think the kids that seem so anxious to do the unpaid internships with start-ups for the summer might be the same ones that are enamored with the idea of going with a start-up upon graduation. Many of kids even drop out of school to join a start-up effort.
The popular HBO series “Silicon Valley” depicts these start-ups as sexy and glamorous and a lot of students have bought into this. I think Church’s article gives a more realistic view.
I agree you have to pick your startup. But I did work with one group and they did start a startup, I tried to get in there early but there was a clause they couldnt recruit previous employees. Unless they are really really good, then they after you somehow. I was new to that group and not in the really really good category so I didn’t get on the beginning. That startup was eventually sold to a big computer company for $3-5 billion.
You are right @Dr.Google there are those that succeed – and I do admire the entrepreneurial spirit of these young kids. I just want my own kids to see both sides and position themselves in a way that allows them to support themselves and be compensated for the work that they do. I have no problem with them taking some risk but they need to understand the realities of the start-ups in order to engage in intelligent decision making. I thought the Church link presented the other side really well.
I think a start up experience can be great if u have enough skills to do what the start up intends to provide. I had 9 years experience with the regular healthcare sector before working for a start up. Having a base of structured experience from more mainstream companies is invaluable in a start up environment.
What was most challenging about working in a start up was that we were providing a service that had just begun to be available. It was in providing Home IV therapy. There were only 2 large companies that did it and it was so new, insurance companies did not know the pricing so they paid for everything. (that has now changed of course).
So the hard part was how to provide the service from A-Z as a small company, we had no model. That was the part we could focus on, not all the skills that go into doing the service itself.
It a person hasn’t developed a base of knowledge then they are learning all it and the likelihood of doing it all well enough to make money is much less.
The supplier company said that they will not provide housing or rent assistance, and thus expects me to commute 1.5 hours to work (3 hours round trip) everyday.
I think that’s a deal breaker for me. I guess I might go with the startup company route (or full-time student if the startup company doesn’t offer me a part-time co-op).
EDIT: I do have an apartment next to the university campus, but the supplier company’s branch is located 1.5 hours away.
Don’t think that those are your only options. There are always more possibilities open to you.
But honestly, I’d just go with a full semester. Work experience is nice, but in your early years, academics are more important.