You wrote a post saying there are “two kinds of people in the world” putting founders in a different plane than everyone else including the early employees who put their lives on the line to work with you.
There are more than two types of people. And when you say that you undervalue all the early employees at a company who are putting their careers on the line working for a no name company that may fail any day. It undervalues every engineering manager who went without a pay check the last two months but has to hustle to hire an employee to get product out the door on time. It undervalues every early employee who lived in the office all week to get your product out the door. It undervalues every business dev guy who is being asked “who do you work for again?” and puts on a smile to sell your product. it undervalues every engineering manager who is working their ass off to hire good people when the top companies are hiring like crazy.
I didnt found a company but I wanted to make the one I joined as an early employee succeed at all cost. And I gave it 8 years of my life. I got a pay check but I gave it much much more than I got paid for.
* I skipped both my brother’s and my sister’s weddings in India.
* I visited my dad who had a stroke once in 5 years as I was working non-stop.
* I did long distance for 5 of the 8 years I dated/married to my wife.
* I travelled non stop for 2 of the 3 years we lived in the same apt.
* I went without a pay check for months at a stretch to keep the company going when times got tough and I hustled to get the company back on track.
So Chris please dont tell me that only Founders matter.
It is not about being proud. It is about the fact that it is not only the founders who face difficult choices and make a lot of sacrifices to get a company off the ground. :)
Priorities change with age when you get wiser but those were the choices I made in my 20s for a company that I was not a founder of.
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You wrote a post saying there are “two kinds of people in the world” putting founders in a different plane than everyone else including the early employees who put their lives on the line to work with you.
There are more than two types of people. And when you say that you undervalue all the early employees at a company who are putting their careers on the line working for a no name company that may fail any day. It undervalues every engineering manager who went without a pay check the last two months but has to hustle to hire an employee to get product out the door on time. It undervalues every early employee who lived in the office all week to get your product out the door. It undervalues every business dev guy who is being asked “who do you work for again?” and puts on a smile to sell your product. it undervalues every engineering manager who is working their ass off to hire good people when the top companies are hiring like crazy.
I didnt found a company but I wanted to make the one I joined as an early employee succeed at all cost. And I gave it 8 years of my life. I got a pay check but I gave it much much more than I got paid for.
* I skipped both my brother’s and my sister’s weddings in India.
* I visited my dad who had a stroke once in 5 years as I was working non-stop.
* I did long distance for 5 of the 8 years I dated/married to my wife.
* I travelled non stop for 2 of the 3 years we lived in the same apt.
* I went without a pay check for months at a stretch to keep the company going when times got tough and I hustled to get the company back on track.
So Chris please dont tell me that only Founders matter.