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How A Startup Loses Its Spark
Most startups needlessly accelerate their corporatization by copying the processes of larger companies.
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At a well-run seed stage startup, engineers will often describe the work experience as intoxicating. At a larger company, the best you get is "enjoyable." Why does this happen? Is it inevitable?
Let's inspect what makes a startup intoxicating. An engineer should spend most of their time in this core loop:
- If needed, talk to users, figure out their problems.
- Come up with an idea to build.
- If needed, discuss the idea with coworkers.
- Implement the idea.
- Cross fingers and ship. Celebrate or postmortem. Then go back to step 1.
At <10 people, each of these steps can be fun. As a company scales, the fun is stripped from every one of these steps. At >100 people, the loop changes. Is this preventable?
From John Qian
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