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Ask HN: deciding to join startup or not?

4 points by arkitaip ↗ HN
How do you guys decide if you should join a project with friends and acquaintances that might turn into a startup? Are there any MUST requirements you have?

I find myself in this situation right now. A good friend and an acquaintance of him have spent a couple of weeks hashing out their idea (recruiting business, nothing hi-tech) and recently asked if I wanted to join them. There are, however, several things that bother me with their business idea and planning (business model, the fact that all of us would also be studying or working full time, tight launch schedule). I tried to address these things during our (first) meeting but felt they didn't see these things as potential problems. Also, such a short meeting makes it very difficult to properly assess the strengths/weaknesses of the idea. Everything is still on the idea stage but I've grown accustomed to thinking in terms of lean and customer development that deviations from these approaches seem lacking. So I'm unsure about this one.

6 comments

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millerfung
I would say don't join because you feel like you need to join to gain some startup. Startups are everywhere these days, prepare yourself :)
brudgers
The one thing I've learned from HN is that startups are primarily about teams and execution, not so much about ideas. If you are not comfortable with the team or the way in which the members approach the workload, then someone has to change their views and/or behavior...or pass on forming a relationship.
arkitaip
Good point about teams before ideas. There's certainly nothing wrong with these guys - one is a close friend - but I'm unsure about some of the ideas. How do you separate ideas that can be solved and those who would take too much effort to steer away from?
jei731
You should also consider whether you would rather prefer to keep your good friend(s) or take part in the startup.

I think going into the startup will likely risk losing that friend, at one time or another. In hindsight, I consider going into a friends' startup a negative investment on my part, and a mistake (in 20-20 hindsight) and should have preferred to continue my then current career and keep my friends as good friends and rather gone my own way with my own company.

I would have made more money that way, would have finished studies earlier and had a better career than what turned out to happen.

Also, cutting school to benefit a startup company, I ended up not finishing studies and being later laid off for not being "qualified" despite sacrificing my studies at the time to benefit the company. - Expect zero gratitude and zero loyalty, when greed shines in your best friends' eyes and investors ask for people to be laid off. - They went so far as to forbid me to finish my studies, and this in writing, from my by-then-ex-best-friend. So there. Greed will override most friendships.

Now, I would think twice before losing or sacrificing too many of them.

yashchandra
"There are, however, several things that bother me with their business idea and planning "

I agree with other posts that startups are more about teams and executions. If you are bothered by the team planning etc, you need to resolve it upfront before agreeing to anything. Think about this. if you are not comfortable raising your objections/points to your good friends, how would that turn out when you actually start the partnership?

jp
Financial solidity and honesty. It is a social nightmare when "friends" owe you $10k and the money is not coming.