Ask HN: Bad idea to have side projects at early stage startup?

3 points by const_HNBurner 6 years ago | 1 comment

The title says it all - I’m wondering what the HN crowd thinks about working on side projects while working fulltime at an early stage startup (~10 employees). Would love to hear from both from the founder and early employee crowds.

While it goes without saying that the projects don’t interfere with my work responsibilities , they do prevent me from putting in extra time - weekends, nights, etc - which isn’t expected, but I could certainly be giving more.

I know that leadership is, at least on the surface, fine with employees having side projects. That said, I worry that it signals a lack of interest / motivation in the company. Is this a bad look, even if it’s nominally “OK”? Are early employees expected to be “all in”?

Part of me also wonders if I have to work on side projects to be fulfilled, why am I working at an early stage company instead of big co; but that’s perhaps a seperate question.

verdverm 6 years ago |

I don't think we should continue perpetuating the idea you are required to work more compared to other jobs. If you are a founder, it's because you are motivated, I do not expect my people to work them selves to death like I do.

How I see this as a boss can depend on what you are doing. Certainly I would not appreciate competitive output. My personal take is usually to see a motivated self learner, and if they make that into something and want to go start a company like I did, fucking awesome! I hope that most of my employees do this at some point. Thing is, if you are all cool about it, the relationships grow and you can still work to make the world a better place together, with more people and resources.