HN Explorer

Ask HN: How to climb the startup ladder fast?

7 points by d33lio ↗ HN
I've been working professionally for about three years, so I don't consider myself to be "senior" by any definition. However, I've encountered a few people who've gone from working as a new college grad or "SDE1" level hire to technical PM in only 2-3 years. I'd describe myself as adaptable and slightly above average. I am by no means a rock star engineer - but when crunch comes to crunch I can deliver. I also suck at interviewing, so I honestly see leveraging my time at this startup (increasing salary) or building a strong network as being more worth my time than leetcoding.

I work hard and fortunately at the current startup I'm employed by I; A) still have a job post pandemic and B) own a piece of our codebase that many others have limited understanding of (specifically a service built with elixir phoenix). Quarantine / WFH has decimated my productivity, however I've still gotten some small incentive bonuses and raises. However, my boss keeps pushing me to "take more ownership" and really wants me to grow faster. I look at past co-workers who took little time to go from dev grunt to essential management staff and honestly draw a blank. I have no clue how they did this.

Do any of you have experience growing quickly at a startup? Or tips to really take advantage of being at a growth stage startup?

Thanks and best of luck to everyone out there like me who dislikes WFH.

7 comments

[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 23.3 ms ] thread
dglass
Your boss told you exactly what you need to do: take more ownership :)

You already mentioned you own one part of the codebase, why not expand on that and find another (hopefully critical) part of the codebase and become an expert/owner on that piece too?

Also, it's not all about writing code. Your boss wants to see you put the needs of the team above your own, so look for opportunities in which you can increase team productivity, reduce risk, and help grow your team in terms of headcount and knowledge.

Also, try not to compare yourself to others, although I know it's easier said than done. Figure out what your goals are and do everything you need to in order to achieve them. Who cares how quickly others progress? Focus on yourself and your own success.

d33lio
Hmm, maybe I suck at communication in the context of team discourse? I've never really had a great example or explanation of "ownership" outside of a bizarre corporate lingo form at Amazon. I guess I'm curious as to what "value" is in distinct terms, I still feel pretty lost here?
moksly
You realise that the bizarre corporate lingo is part of the management skillset right?

Taking more ownership, means your boss wants you to make decisions and lead the direction. Not like a dictator, but by example.

Value is meeting your requirements the fastest, least conflict ridden and safest way possible. Sometimes that’s clean code, other times that’s happy employees and other times it’s getting a finished product out the door regardless of the amount of spaghetti. Often it’ll be a combination of them all, with getting stuff done being the most important in almost every industry. The exception being places where safety matters more, like when you build airplanes, and even there, you only need to look to boring to see what “value” often means in management.

d33lio
That's a fair point. Thanks!
sdf98721
Two points 1. Maybe its time to move on, problem with small tech companies is there has to be an opportunity for you to move into. 2. I wouldn't compare technical PM promotion to developer growth.

Otherwise, next time you have the "take more ownership" conversation don't hesitate to ask for specifics where you can do that. Development goals shouldn't be guess work.

d33lio
I've been with this company for about a year, we just closed another $10M series B so at this point I want to figure out how I can leverage my position since we're without a doubt now very much in a growth phase. I've read about and heard about people who started out at as engineers at "growth stage" startups and then somehow leveraged their way to far more meaningful and high earning positions. I'm just reaching in the dark as to how one actually does that, aside from being a "good" employee and working hard.
atmosx
If an developer has gone from engineering to product management in 2 years - especially a junior engineer - could mean that he/she is not a good fit as an engineer and they want to give him/her a different role, something that requires a high level understanding but not implementation details.

I don't have any advice and I don't assume what I've said applies to your friend(s) as all situations are different. Just sharing insight.