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by philip1209 4050 days ago
This aligns with Reed Hoffman's "tour of duty" philosophy:

https://hbr.org/2013/06/tours-of-duty-the-new-employer-emplo...

Basically, a manager and employee agree to work on a particular project for a set period of time. At the end of that period of time, the employee is offered the option of switching to a new kind of project or leaving. If an employee leaves between tour of duties, it is considered a respectable departure and they receive the full support of the company in terms of referrals and positive reference checks.

I wish that more startups treated jobs as tours of duty. Your case highlights how having such an agreement with your employer could have been more mutually beneficial.
2 comments
danso 4050 days ago
> I wish that more startups treated jobs as tours of duty.

Is that even feasible for startups? I guess it depends on size and stage, but I imagine most startups don't have their mission and product to a solidified-enough stage where they can think in year-long phases...or to even have more than one major project in which a year-long engineering tour is possible.

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justonepost 4050 days ago
No, it's definitely not feasible for a startup. Contracts are very common in a lot of jobs, but the friction they generate don't make sense in a startup. That's why you get all that startup equity, to deal with that risk.
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bkeroack 4050 days ago
"[A]ll that startup equity" for normal employees is typically sub 0.1%.
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walshemj 4050 days ago
So your arguing for enforceable contracts that neither side can get out of easily? Ie sign for 7/12 or even a lifer at 20 years

You do know that military's that use thease systems have some rather nice tax and benefit perks that civilians wont be able to match.

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philip1209 4050 days ago
My understanding isn't that it is a legally-binding contract, but that you basically trade positive reference checks should an employee leave in exchange for predictability in when they leave.
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walshemj 4050 days ago
So they are basically offering nothing no one sensible ever gives anything more as a reference than

"mr/ms x worked here from date to date"

For fear of some manger having rush of blood to the head and leave a company open to a law suit.

What's in it for the employee?

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