Ask HN: What's it like working at early-stage YC startups?
4•jennalk•14h ago
Considering an offer from a YC startup that's raised seed, 6 months post-pivot, and actively looking for PMF before Series A.
What should I know about this stage? What's different from pre-seed or post-Series A companies? Any questions I should definitely ask them?
Comments
codingdave•14h ago
Pre-PMF running off a seed round? There is a very real timer counting down. They need PMF and customers before the money runs out in order to convince the next round of investors. Assume it will be a 3-6 month gig, with a mild chance of actually turning into a real job if everyone gets lucky.
You should ask them how long their runway actually is, what goals need to be hit in order to get to the next round and extend the runway, and how this role is going to contribute to those goals. Be wary of anyone who won't answer those questions or who doesn't know the answer to those questions.
jennalk•14h ago
Thanks for the insight. Since they're post-pivot and hunting for PMF, I’m trying to gauge the panic vs focus ratio.
Does this stage inevitably turn engineering into a feature factory just to close deals? I'm worried the roadmap will become 'whatever the client screams for' rather than building a scalable core. Any specific questions I can ask the founders to sniff that out?
codingdave•11h ago
You'd need to dig into who is running their product decisions, and try to determine how they are making decisions. But to be honest, that line of questioning would probably make most interviewers defensive to the point that you'll be ending your chances of getting the job.
It might be better to dance around such questions. Don't directly challenge their product strategy. Instead, be a little sycophantic, encourage them to talk more, tell you more. Get excited by the features they tell you about, ask questions about how they landed on that feature set, etc. But then pay attention to what they don't say. Pay attention to if they say "we had an idea" vs. "our customers helped us refine" vs. "our founder has a vision". Listen for gaps in their stories, hesitations, anywhere that they get a little nervous. Pauses and rephrasings as they tell their story will also tell you their problem areas.
Basically, just keep them talking. Read between the lines. Teams at this stage tend to be really bad at hiding the warts in their organization, if you just give them enough space to let it all out.
dustingetz•14h ago
join after the A if you care about money. Join before the A if you are uniquely mission aligned or technology aligned, e.g. it’s 2016 and you want to work in VR, and aren’t optimizing for money right now. Early stage is fun and you’ll learn a lot and that’s about it.
codingdave•14h ago
You should ask them how long their runway actually is, what goals need to be hit in order to get to the next round and extend the runway, and how this role is going to contribute to those goals. Be wary of anyone who won't answer those questions or who doesn't know the answer to those questions.
jennalk•14h ago
Does this stage inevitably turn engineering into a feature factory just to close deals? I'm worried the roadmap will become 'whatever the client screams for' rather than building a scalable core. Any specific questions I can ask the founders to sniff that out?
codingdave•11h ago
It might be better to dance around such questions. Don't directly challenge their product strategy. Instead, be a little sycophantic, encourage them to talk more, tell you more. Get excited by the features they tell you about, ask questions about how they landed on that feature set, etc. But then pay attention to what they don't say. Pay attention to if they say "we had an idea" vs. "our customers helped us refine" vs. "our founder has a vision". Listen for gaps in their stories, hesitations, anywhere that they get a little nervous. Pauses and rephrasings as they tell their story will also tell you their problem areas.
Basically, just keep them talking. Read between the lines. Teams at this stage tend to be really bad at hiding the warts in their organization, if you just give them enough space to let it all out.