Having not worked in the Valley or a startup, I can say the biggest con to me is a lack of stability. You can get a job at BigCo or even MediumSizedButBeenAroundTwoDecadesCo and be reasonably sure you'll still have a job... as long as you want to work there. But with a startup, either they run out of money and you lose your job, they pivot and don't need you and you lose your job, or they get acquired and you very likely lose your job (or it becomes a vastly different job you didn't want). When taken in combination with the insane cost of living in the Bay Area, it seems crazy that someone would even consider this.
Here's a crazy idea from the IT contracting industry: Maybe YC and the like should hire employees and contract them out to startups. I work for a company which contracts me out to another: Even if my position is eliminated with the client, I don't lose my job, I just get reassigned. Perhaps as part of this, YC (or other funding group) gets the investment options an employee would otherwise have had, for example.
- For the startup, they'd be getting employees who weren't worried if they'd have a paycheck in the next six months, and they'd know their VC folks are confident in that employee's ability. For all the other risks startups take, hiring a good developer/designer/business manager would be less of one.
- For the employees, they'd have a stable income they could base real estate and financial decisions on.
- For the fund, they'd have possibly gained more investment, and ideally, having known employees that they've seen the work of before should add confidence to the success of a given business they've funded.
Disclaimer: I have literally no experience or expertise in claiming this would work out financially or otherwise for the startup industry.
Here's a crazy idea from the IT contracting industry: Maybe YC and the like should hire employees and contract them out to startups. I work for a company which contracts me out to another: Even if my position is eliminated with the client, I don't lose my job, I just get reassigned. Perhaps as part of this, YC (or other funding group) gets the investment options an employee would otherwise have had, for example.
- For the startup, they'd be getting employees who weren't worried if they'd have a paycheck in the next six months, and they'd know their VC folks are confident in that employee's ability. For all the other risks startups take, hiring a good developer/designer/business manager would be less of one.
- For the employees, they'd have a stable income they could base real estate and financial decisions on.
- For the fund, they'd have possibly gained more investment, and ideally, having known employees that they've seen the work of before should add confidence to the success of a given business they've funded.
Disclaimer: I have literally no experience or expertise in claiming this would work out financially or otherwise for the startup industry.