| Sounds like they got seed funding. Depending on the startup that money may go a decent way or be gone in 6 months. Understand the runway and the expectations as well as set reasonable deadlines for them. It is better to say 1 week and be done in 1 week, than say 2 days and be done in a week. Other general advice: - Expect some chaos, it doesn't mean the founders are bad, it is normal when things are this early. - Expect things to be a bit disorganized and that they won't have processes setup and even on-boarding will not be smooth, just go with the flow and help them find places it can get better. - Don't try to implement crazy processes and procedures when the company is so early on. Product fit/delivery is more critical than having a good CI/CD process or having deployments perfect. - Be willing to jump in and help do whatever is needed, be a true team player and don't complain. - Find ways you can contribute to solving the problem beyond just writing some code. Find quick ways to test ideas and to show the team results. - Enjoy yourself, and don't forget to take time to relax and unwind away from work. Startups are fun, and hanging out with the people you work with is good bonding and has lots of positives, but make time for things away from work and separate from just work people. Otherwise you will lose your identity outside of work and that is hard to recover from mentally. - If you have specific questions let me know, happy to share my personal experiences and what I tell new hires myself. |