Learnings from my days at an early-stage startup
Suraj Nath
Who Am I?
I build software to solve problems
Now: Grafana Labs
Past: Clarisights
The Interwebs
Quick Poll
What this talk is about?
Things I learned while working at an early-stage startup, and other anecdotes about startup life.
Disclaimer: It’s my personal experience, and in no way universal truth.
What this talk is NOT about?
What will we talk about
University vs Industry
No Grades,
Also, No Judgement for being wrong,
Fail & Learn
No Silent Agreements
Asking questions is encouraged
Don’t just agree because someone is older/senior in role
Disagreements are encouraged
Disagreements are seen as way to learn from peers
Seeking Help
No brownie points of doing something on your own, collaboration is key
Everyone is adult here
Giving feedback
Seeking feedback and improving
What really is your job?
Raise your hand if you are an engineer?
Coding is a tool, not your job
Users don’t care if you are using php, or some cool new framework.
Startup vs Big Co.
Startup are embodiment of Chaos.
Big Co. are more Structured and Processified
Learning and Growth
How to value your role at startup
it’s not about just 💸
High learning + High growth + Decent earning
Do you like what you are doing?
Imposter Syndrome
and it’s close cousin, Dunning-Kruger
Passion & Burnout
You can’t run a marathon like 100m race
Reading List
The days are long but the decades are short - Sam Altman
Your Brain's API: Giving and Getting Technical Help - Sasha Laundy
Don't Call Yourself A Programmer, And Other Career Advice - Patrick McKenzie (aka patio11)
Builders Build, Hackers Hack
Thank you everyone 🙌🙌🙌
will post slides at suraj.dev/talks and tweet it at @electron0zero