Startup-Resources: This is a list of all of the resources that I have found and a summary of what I found useful in them
This document will serve as a whiteboard for me to keep track of the resources that I find and think are useful. I will try to keep the document organized based on which aspect of the jouirney they address, and give brief summaries of what they contain.
A lot of factors should go into figuring out the correct startup. Here are some resources to figure out what is important and structure your thinking.
https://breakoutlist.com/
https://breakoutlist.com/advice/
The breakout list is a website which creates data and advice from angels, VCs, late stage investors, and CEOs. This is a great resource for advice at all stages, and has has a list of companies which they recommend looking at. These companies are curated based on the idea that a person joining a startup should join one that is on a breakthrough trajectory - becasue being on a winning team is important in establishing a career.
Breakout comapnies are generally post-series B, which (typically) indicates that they have established PMF and are in a growth stage.
The advice from Breakoutlist is curated posts from many influential people in the startup / entrepreneurial scene. This advice is generally great and can lead to many rabbit holes of thoughts.
https://www.startupcareeradvice.com/choosing-right-startup/
This is a collection of high-quality blog posts about how to decide when to join a startup and which startup to join. Great resource if you are trying to decide what stage you want to join, or if you are deciding if a company is right for you.
https://www.workatastartup.com
This is a Y-Combinator job board with postings from companies across the YC spectrum. There are companies trying to find employee #2 and employee #200, with varying levels of funding and success. Since this is YC's job board, they have the YC stamp of approval - which, while a great first step, should not be the extent of your due diligence.
They also have a wide range of different roles, and you can build a profile, search for postings that are relevant for you, and apply all within their portal.
AngelList is a general job board for a large amount of startups of all types and stages. There are jobs in all areas from engineering to business development to co-founder roles. The great search functions makes it easy to narrow your search to be specific for vertical, compensation, or role.
https://blog.wealthfront.com/career-launching-companies-list/#companies-list
This is similar to the BreakoutList in that it has a bunch of "Career Launching Companies", which are later stage companies that are generally percieved to be good bets for success. The main question is will these be pretty successful or headline-grabbing unicorns. The good news is that either way, they are generally pretty good companies to begin a startup career.
If you are considering working at a startup then you need to understand equity compensation and all that goes into modifying this. You need to understand what option grants are, risks of them (purchasing them, tax implications, and how they affect leaving a company), dilution, and more. You really are just huting yourself if you dont understand these concepts, and if you are working at a startup where part of your compensation is equity - meaning the cash you are getting is below market rate - you need to understand the equity part as well as you do the cash part.
(paid e-reader version) https://www.holloway.com/g/equity-compensation
(free github version) https://github.com/jlevy/og-equity-compensation/blob/master/README.md
NOTE: I think this is worth the $20 to support them and have the additional UI of the e-Reader
This is a fantastic and comprehensive guide on understanding competative compensation rates. It also has amazing parts to understand equity and all contributing factors.
I dont think someone should join a startup without reading this.
https://www.indexventures.com/rewardingtalent/the-index-ventures-experience
https://www.indexventures.com/optionplan/
Index ventures has a great site to better understand what a competative compensation is, both through equity and cash. They also have great resources for understanding the details of option grants, equity, dilution and more.
https://venturehacks.com/archives#compensation
https://venturehacks.com/archives#equity
https://venturehacks.com/archives#option-pool
Venture Hacks is a great blog website that skews slighly towards founders, but still has topics that cover tha gambit of what to ask companies before you join, to understanding options and equity.
http://blog.eladgil.com/2015/03/career-decisions.html
http://jvns.ca/blog/2015/12/30/do-the-math-on-your-stock-options/
https://hunterwalk.com/2020/10/31/youll-need-at-least-two-of-these-four-qualifications-to-get-hired-by-a-venture-firm/
https://cdixon.org/2009/10/22/the-ideal-startup-career-path
https://quip.com/HEB3Ah9dYD6o
https://visible.vc/blog/startup-ceo-salary/
https://go.gusto.com/rs/110-WOX-868/images/An%20Entrepreneur%E2%80%99s%20Guide%20to%20Employee%20Equity.pdf
https://fi.co/insight/a-guide-to-startup-employee-equity