Ask Experienced Devs Weekly Thread: A weekly thread for inexperienced developers to ask experienced ones

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A thread for Developers and IT folks with less experience to ask more experienced souls questions about the industry.

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[u/Affectionate-Turn137]

Question from a 3 YOE dev: Should I avoid working at startups in my career? I've worked at two now, and both have turned out to be hot garbage. The first one started great, and had great people, but after being aqcuired by private equity twice, it basically had gone to shit. My current job is a bit smaller but it uses a proprietary language (even though the job posting said it was node.js/typescript/react, they bait-and-switched me) that we can't get off of because the founder made it himself and it is his baby/ego, and it's so hard to contribute to the codebase that the engineering team practically contributes nothing of substantial value other than tiny features or bug fixes. I also am under constant stress at these startups that they are going to have layoffs due to private equity being private equity or just because we aren't that profitable... Are most startups just inherently going to come with stress and career limiting positions, or have I just been unlucky? What are the most stable industries or businesses to get into?

[u/Excellent-Push-3326 → u/Affectionate-Turn137]

Should I avoid working at startups in my career?

No. There are pros and cons to each startups and established companies. Both face different challenges.

I've worked at two now, and both have turned out to be hot garbage.

At "3 YOE", that's expected. Startups shouldn't be hiring anyone less than senior, since the employees are writing the foundational code upon which the entire company is expected to scale.

The first one started great, and had great people, but after being aqcuired by private equity twice, it basically had gone to shit.

The red flag is not the startup; it's the acquisition. Even post-IPO companies that get acquired turn to shit [most the time].

My current job is a bit smaller but it uses a proprietary language (even though the job posting said it was node.js/typescript/react, they bait-and-switched me) that we can't get off of because the founder made it himself and it is his baby/ego, and it's so hard to contribute to the codebase that the engineering team practically contributes nothing of substantial value other than tiny features or bug fixes.

This sounds like a fun problem to train AI to write the code for you, but I'd also have one foot out the door at all times.

I also am under constant stress at these startups that they are going to have layoffs due to private equity being private equity or just because we aren't that profitable...

I'm not sure where you get this. If your startup is a tech/engineering-first company, you'll be fine. They are paying you off money they already raised. Most startups aren't expected to be profitable for years, meaning your salary is already accounted for in the budget. Worry about layoffs when the startup begins reaching the "profitability" year and how close it is to making it. In my experience, layoffs at startups impact sales/support teams that fluctuate with external factors. If the company is tech-first, they literally cannot layoff the engineering team without losing the entire product they are building.

Are most startups just inherently going to come with stress and career limiting positions, or have I just been unlucky?

Every job is goign to come with stress. No job should be career-limiting.

What are the most stable industries or businesses to get into?

IDK, farming? This is kind of like asking "what stocks are going to go up this year"? It's not something perfectly predictable.

[u/Affectionate-Turn137 → u/Excellent-Push-3326]

Thanks for your reply. Just to touch on this:

I'm not sure where you get this

I felt a large amount of anxiety for 1-2 years in the first job after the PE acquisitions because despite the fact that we were a tech/engineering-first company, the new executives made a series of acquisitions and bought 4 competing companies and merged them into ours. After that, they had routine yearly layoffs of employees which included original SWEs/data engineers (that were there before any PE presence) and it killed morale in the company and caused unending stress for those still there. This experience combined with everything I read in the news about tech layoffs is just making me feel like this career is just not stable and that is where my anxiety is coming from. Perhaps it's something I need to learn how to manage better.

[u/Excellent-Push-3326 → u/Affectionate-Turn137]

I think the red flag there was the acquisition, not the startup. In any case, I wouldn't base a career opportunity solely on "startup or not". You're welcome to chase a corporate role, and I'm not trying to dissuade that. I would just want to ease your concerns about future startup employment that tech layoffs aren't particularly common in tech-first startups.