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Ask HN: Is a junior software engineer looked down upon for starting a business?

2 points by joneath ↗ HN
Hi HN, I am a graduating software engineer that will be launching my own startup soon. What started out as a side project has turned into something I believe other people would use. I have now decided to make it into a business!

As a software engineer I want to work for a startup but I am worried that my ambition may be a turn off for companies. Is a junior software engineer that has started a company unattractive to employers or is it a plus? This question can be abstracted to include all engineers/professions.

P.S. I wouldn't mind advice on company organization types (LLC, S Corp, C Corp) or anything else relating to starting your own business.

3 comments

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wilhelm
Quite the contrary. Having an education and relevant technical experience are all good, but what separates the merely good candidates from the excellent is that the latter have proven that they can get stuff done by their own initiative, that they've actually used their skills for something real.

Contributing to an open source project? Excellent. Writing your own research papers and contributing to a standards organization? Wonderful. Running your own business? Perfect.

kls
Off the cuff, catch all answer, You want to file an S Corp there are tax benefits to doing so. The better answer is talk to a tax professional.

As for damaging your ability to find a job, initiative will never hurt you and if it does you do not want to work there.

hga
Echoing the other 2 commentators, especially kls, if this damages your changes at a particular startup "you do not want to work there", just as long as you can convince them you'll be happy to also work for others (in a startup environment) as well as being the top dog. Heck, it's likely to be a mutual learning experience: you and the company you're joining will have things to teach each other. One weird thing I helped a number of startups I worked for was real estate (in their case leasing office space), based on what I had learned while growing up from my father and grandmother.