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Comment by sandworm101 | Hacker News Reader

>>“What do you want to be doing in 10 years?” The answer is invariably “working at or founding a tech startup”

Funny. I deal with startups all the time. When I ask startup employees where they want to be in 10 years they invariably say "Working for Google" or some version of "Working for someone more stable than this bag of cats". When I speak to startup founders, honestly and in private, the answer is some version of "On the other side of either and IPO/buyout". The employees look for stability, thier bosses cash.

The grass is always greener. I once worked in film/TV and everyone wants to hear the stories. They all think it was so much fun. It was hell. That glorious job is never what you think. Except fighter pilot. Every one of the dozen or so I've met live and embrace the stereotypes.

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This is the reason I avoid startup products as much as I can. Because like you say, their primary goal is the exit. Which is usually the opposite of what the copy says on their website ("we care about the product!"), and it's totally the opposite of what I want as a customer. I'm not looking for companies who try to cheat me into becoming their customer by promising great future, only to bail out at earliest convenient moment.

Well, the question is posed by a powerful VC to a "prospective employee". This is the equivalent of "what do you want to do when you grow up, Timmy?".

Also bear in mind that the post was written in 2009. My feeling is that startups have lost a lot of allure since then and are now increasingly viewed as sweatshops where grunts work for illusory payout whereas a job at megacorp with great pay and low stress is considered a sane choice.

I think the reality is more subtle than this. I'm currently working at a large company with a lot of job security. In 5-10 years, I would like to see myself working at a startup. But only for maybe 5 years max, and then I'd like to return back to a position with more security.

I think most people want to try the startup thing for only a few years.

I think the more general principle is that by default all social systems strive towards stability and predictability, even the most chaotic and ground breaking startups. Occasionally we - individuals, teams, organizations - try to fool ourselves into thinking otherwise but the truly anti-fragile and chaos embracing social systems are incredibly rare and very far apart.

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