Ask HN: Can an introvert build a successful tech career/company? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Can an introvert build a successful tech career/company?

1 pointmehdix3 comments

A few months ago I left a corporate job and joined a growing startup. My idea was helping shape the startup and in the process gain experience and build a team.

However, being an introvert, made me doubt whether I can make any career progress in startups at all. So far I see that the company is ruled by sales, marketing and investors. You are extrovert, talk better and "make more friends and impress people" you are more successful. You are introvert and mind your own business, you are in trouble.

I appreciate if anyone could share their thoughts and experiences on this.

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You are introvert and mind your own business, you are in trouble.

That's not really what an introvert is.

I'd recommend reading Susan Cains book "Quiet" for a really deep dive on the psychology of introverts, extroverts and ambiverts, but in a nutshell it's about how you recover from social situations compared to being alone. Introverts need time away from others to reenergise. Extroverts need time among other people to reenergise. Ambiverts are those rare people who get energised by both.

To that end, the answer to your question is really to make sure you block out time to be on your own in order to recover after being in social situations.

If you genuinely don't like social situations that's something else. It could be shyness, anti-socialness or a form of social anxiety. What strategy you use to deal with those things is a bit more complicated and very personal to you.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check it out. According to that definition I still fall in the introvert category.

> If you genuinely don't like social situations that's something else.

I enjoy social situations. I don't seek approval and don't try to impress people however. My idea was pushing forward relying on technical excellence but it appears to be inadequate.

I would recommend you to check out the Startups for the rest of us podcast with Rob Walling - an introvert and successful serial entrepreneur who founded Drip, Microconf, Tinyseed and wrote the book Start small, stay small. It can be done. The world needs introverts!

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