Ask HN: Startup House?

You're quite right, if you're not interested in challenging yourself, developing skills you never knew you had, being or becoming flexible, and using a nimble mind, then a startup might not be the right choice.

There's nothing easy about starting a company. It can be a rough experience, and is not for the risk-averse. It's also not as easy to work at a startup, because your duties are less well defined, and doing a bad job has a real impact on the company's bottom line. If you want to do the same thing day in, day out, nine to five, you need to work for a big company.

At Startup House we believe that internships at startups can be just as rewarding as internships at big companies, for individuals who are interested in challenging themselves and thinking on their feet. Startups typically do not offer the same sort of side benefits to interns (corporate apartments, structured mentorship, events for interns, having a community of interns), and that's where Startup House comes in.

Startups, for many, offer more interesting opportunities, such as the ability to work closely with management. Startup House makes working for a startup even more attractive by providing the side benefits of an internship, community, events, activities, housing (limited by availability - and a lot more fun than living on your own), and dinners with entrepreneurs.

Our program is meant for those who would be interested in startups anyway. We seek out individuals who demonstrate an interest in technology, entrepreneurship, and enjoying life, in order to build a supportive community of interns across multiple startups. If this sounds interesting to you, you can apply by sending your resume to resumes at startup-house dot com. For additional information, check out our website www.startup-house.com or send an email to contact at startup-house dot com.

Julian Jennings-White

Co-Founder, Startup House

julian at startup-house dot com

"Live the Silicon Valley Startup Experience"

Sounds like trouble to me. I'm generally skeptical of anything that tries to polish and make accessible an inherently risky and difficult process. If you're using Startup House as a way to test out working on a startup, be careful that you aren't looking for the "startup lifestyle." Only if you'd do it anyway would I think that this could ever be a good idea.