Startups Anonymous Est. 2013 · Read-only archive
Questions

Shutting down and confused on next step

After 4 years of running a startup, I’m closing it down. My resume now says I’m a Comp Science graduate but I have gotten used to business strategy, sales, setting up processes to generate revenue and building relationships with people. Also I’m used to identifying capabilities and setting up a team to run the show, delegate and monitor.

I’m comparatively young and getting offers of tech team lead etc. I don’t know how productive I can be at coding by myself but those are the roles that are coming up.

I know this is sort of out of context, but the next step seems very confusing. Any advice would be appreciated.

2 answers from the community

AAnonymous· Dec 16, 2016

I've been where you are right now.

Go find another startup. Or better yet, a turnaround project. Someplace where the new owner/CEO is willing to try and turn things around for 2-3 years. 3 years ago I joined a company that was a turnaround project, and while we're not out of the woods yet, I've grown the tech team from just me to 3 people and we're looking to double it in 2017, all while delivering TREMENDOUS value to the business. Went from about 1.5 million in revenue at it's lowest point when I joined to almost 4 this year, and on track to do about double that in 2017.

You will (very likely) be bored in a straight tech lead role. I interviewed for a director of engineering position 5-6 months ago (I wanted to move closer to a national forest, I like camping/backpacking), and asked them how involved in the business I'd be. The answer was basically "Mind your code and we'll tell you what to build". I declined, because that's not even close to what I found fun.

That's my 2 cents. I hope it's helpful as you figure out what you want to do. But trust me, an anonymous person on the internet. If you've managed to be even somewhat successful at this business strategy, team building and relationship game, then you'll be fine.

AAnonymous· Jan 6, 2017

If you would like to collaborate with another person let me know