#WorkLifeBalance #StartupCulture #JobExpectations
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**The Harsh Reality of Startup Expectations**
So some time ago, I was laid off from a startup and started looking for work. In my emails was this recruiter from an NYC company called Fiber.ai, and they had some interesting job expectations to say the least. Let’s take a closer look at what they were asking for:
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**The Job Post**
The salary and equity offered seemed promising at first glance, but the expectations and workload quickly overshadowed that initial allure.
– $80K – $160K / 0.10% – 0.50% equity
– The job required the candidate to be “self-driven and autonomous” and demanded a wide range of engineering skills
– The company raised >$4M, generated >$25k MRR, and signed 3 paid pilots with mid-market enterprises all within 6 weeks. They were looking for someone to build their product that customers would use every day as a core part of their workflows.
– The position required working 3 days in person in NYC from 10 am to 10 pm, with 2 days remote.
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**The Founders**
The founders of the company, Adi Agashe and Neel Mehta, had impressive backgrounds and credentials in terms of education and past work experience. However, their lack of actual software engineering experience raises some questions about their understanding of the demands they were placing on potential employees.
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**The Interview Process**
After being told about the demanding work schedule, the candidate was then asked to complete a take-home project. The magnitude of the project was shocking, requiring a massive 20 hours to complete.
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**The Decision**
After learning that no one had completed the take-home project and realizing the sheer magnitude of the workload and expectations, the candidate made the decision that this company was not the right fit for them.
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**Closing Thoughts**
The experience with Fiber.ai shed light on some of the extreme expectations that startups can place on their employees. Fortunately, the candidate was able to find a better fit at a larger company that offered a more reasonable work-life balance.
In the end, it’s important for individuals seeking job opportunities to carefully consider the demands and expectations placed on them and ensure that it aligns with their own values and priorities.
I’m at a corporate job now. It’s got its ups and downs, but i did a startup early in my career and I wouldn’t wish a start-up on my worst enemy. Especially one like this that’s clawing to keep itself alive yet hoarding any of the upside. Will suck up your soul and make you want to fold sweaters at the GAP.
But but you can say you worked for ex-FAANG employees!!11
0.5% equity for 80k compensation and 60 hour workweeks for the next year and half? 💀
“ CTO, Neel, who was formerly at Google and did CS at Harvard (top 5%)”
I would have stopped reading right there because Neel sounds like a stuck up piece of shit. I don’t give a fuck where you worked and what school you went to.
What you are asking for Sunday off ? Back to work with you !
Honestly I’d probably work there. I like the idea of feeling really important to an organization and I’d learn so much and make so many connections. It’d be a great experience to use when I start my own company
The base pay is way too low; the rest is fine. As an employee, do you expect to get equity like a cofounder?
This is why the only startups you should work in are those that you found or cofound. On average, corporate jobs are way better – you need to be very lucky or very good at choosing the startup to hit the jackpot as an employee in a newly started company.
I would also avoid joining companies ran by narcissistic bullshitters like [this CEO](https://www.google.com/search?q=Adi+Agashe)
Literally asking people to work 996 (Except they start at 10 and end at 10)
yeah I’ve seen similar postings but for internships. they have a long list of tech stacks and whatnot they expect you to have mastered and the pay is 15 an hour x.x’
Didn’t Neel get a 4.0 in CS, why is bro outsourcing the work, he is more than capable of writing code. https://www.linkedin.com/in/neel-a-mehta
Honestly people will downvote but it does seem like a good opportunity especially if your looking in the future to build a startup.
Goddamn that looks like a startup to help startups market to other startups. Just with ~~blockchain~~ generative AI!
If this is the kinda crap getting funding then the Fed needs to keep hiking rates
Currently doing this now and regretting every second of it
have you ever considered simply not working there?
Base pay is a little low, equity seems a little more than fair.
Here is some constructive feedback. You are some guy with 5 YOE yet you obviously think you are gods greatest gift to software engineering despite you being out of work for nearly 4 months.
Take it or don’t take it, but don’t pretend like you are above the position. You arent, not by a long shot.
With the current market, they will be able to secure a candidate. That’s the crazy part.
I’ll do it, for a 100k cash sign on and a 500k all cash salary.
You’ve got a lot of fair points, but to call half a point of equity “pitiful” is *insane.* That’s a ton of equity for a regular hire engineer who isn’t a founder.
I get the sentiment, but they were straightforward about what they were looking for. It’s not like you were ever misled. I’m not sure you applied at all when the listing already mentioned 12 hour days. Sometimes that’s just how the world of early stage startups goes. It’s high risk, high effort, and potentially high reward. It’s not something you should do unless you really care about the mission/product.
> We will be working 3 days in person in NYC 10am to 10pm in a private office
ok that’s a weird schedule but i can see how 10am to 10pm might work for a 3 day week —
> with flexibility to work 2 days remote.
oh no nevermind.
I just checked their careers page and I’m mindblown:
Adi Agashe (CEO) and Neel Mehta (CTO) are the 3-time global bestselling authors of “Swipe to Unlock,” “Bubble or Revolution?”, and “PM’s Sacred Seven” which have been translated into 11 languages.
People who wrote these business books are going to build the next trillion $ company. Frankly you should work for free for them just to be around such greatness. /s
It’s like 996 but you get to sleep in an extra hour!
I wouldn’t believe you if I haven’t faced recruiters like this myself. Modern day snake-oil salesmen.
The CTO wasn’t even a software engineer, he was a product manager. Last time I checked they don’t code. Yet you’re supposed to impress him, lmao.
>someone self-driven who can work 55-60 hours a week
>work 10 am to 10 pm daily (the recruiter specifically said it’s a 6 day workweek from Monday through Saturday)
Somebody mathed wrong. 12 * 6 = 72, not 55-60
0.5% equality is worth 5000 per million the company is worth. What makes this important is most start up never make it to 1 million is value any how much less the millions to the point that that 0.5% is worth much. It puts the numbers in real terms and only way you will even get part of that 5k is if everyone else gets paid out first so even less likely.
This is well before you get that work schedule is a good fu to it. You would make to pay me close to 7 figures to even remotely to consider that work schedule and I am pretty sure I would still say f no. I value my time with my family to much and my own free time.
Good for you for naming and shaming them. I’m so sorry you were put through that hellscape of an experience!
that pay is shit but change that to faang salary like 280k then the hours are not bad at all.
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when you are young what are you gonna do with the extra time lol, end up wasting it on gaming anyways.
It’s funny reading attitudes now vs how things were in the early 2000s. I was at my first startup in the late 90s, and most of the people here wouldn’t have gotten hired for being pussies. It was hard work, lots of hours, and there was no real WLB. You were on a mission. Looking back it seems crazy, but how things were then.
> It was a 20 hour take-home project. That is literally half of a normal working week.
It sounds like they wanted to make sure they got some work out of you, whether or not they actually hired you.
Whats the issue? You think no one is working 6 days a week?
I’m gonna be real honest. If you’re unemployed right now, in this job market in 2024? Relative to your other options (likely no job at all) this is pretty damn good. 6 day workweeks and 12 hour days are probably new normal for most Americans who don’t already have a cushy job locked down. Get used to it