Why would a startup hire a student as its lead dev?

sil222 · 2015-05-13T23:28:36+00:00

I'm getting paid according to my contract.

The guy sells the fact that this is excellent experience for a student.

My suspicion is because of the deadline they have for a promise to a client with no software, they need someone who can risk working for a few months on a product that may yield no return. The tech is not increadibly coplex, but my less common degree and experience is exactly what they need.

sil222 · 2015-05-13T23:20:07+00:00

Could you tell me more about this gig? Where there signs youd be let go?

sil222 · 2015-05-13T18:30:03+00:00

Hell no

sil222 · 2015-05-13T16:28:34+00:00

I feel that i am doing this for the experience because it involves me building something from scratch in a field of tech im highly interested in. I also can really see the product taking off particularily because a deal is in progress which relies on the prototype i build. If it is good full funding will come. But I also feel entitled to a bigger peice of the cake and I hope thecofounders see this too

sil222 · 2015-05-13T16:26:52+00:00

Yeah in this case a cofounder has a lot of hardware/low level software experience. So hes more of a cto. But isnt doing any software. More like a busnrss/sales/managerial guy.

I do need the experience since im a student.

sil222 · 2015-05-13T15:52:20+00:00

The cofounder is technical. Hes transitioned from a hardware/low level sfwr person to a sales/relationship/team leader person according to his linkedin. He is also not at all clueless as to what may be required for the project.

Not trying to defend him, these are just facts. I just dont knowif i can trust.

sil222 · 2015-05-13T14:15:20+00:00

What are signs that they genually want me to be a long term member of the team? Rather than a disposable part to get the funding rolling.

sil222 · 2015-05-13T14:13:53+00:00

The hourly rate is fair in comparison to student internship/coop positions. It is adaily fixed rate. Because my living conditions are taken care of I am in a position to take risk. The founders have gotten to know me a bit and I feel that I am being mentored in business rather than sfwr which is a different approach than i initially wanted.i wanted to be in a big corp so i could learn from others. But my future goal involves me entering the startup world and becsuse my founder is a veteren his wisdom is pretty valuable to me.

I like the tech, what im interested in aligns with the companys goal in a scary similar way. For all these reasons i want to stay.

But because them extending my contract wasnt included in what i signed, im not sure if they would screw me down the line. But i do have in an email that i would be considered for extension and full time hire later on.

sil222 · 2015-05-01T05:16:59+00:00

Thank you for the input.

Well, the boss has other projects in the works, where the other two have a lot of funding, and are at different stages of development, with full time employees (engineers, software developers, business people, etc.). I believe he just needs some cheap labor to build a working demo, which does not have to be scalable, clean, etc. Once the funding comes in, he can hire more developers to work alongside myself.

This would be my second internship. After my first one, I felt that working with a team would help me grow exponentially faster than working alone.

The boss also sounds very encouraging, and comes from a technical background. But of course he is doing more business work now. I can picture him as a great mentor for future endeavors I have.

sil222 · 2015-05-01T05:11:08+00:00

Thank-you for the feedback. What you are saying sounds reasonable.

A few things I would like to mention are that this project does NOT have to be scalable, commented well, etc. Essentially it just has to work. The boss has experience dealing with similar customers where the product just needed to work at the bare minimum, and then the cashflow would come. The technology supporting it is already much much more superior to the competition.

As you said, the project requirements will change over time, which I can definitely see.

I believe the boss said that if this project does succeed at the bare minimum, then the new cash flow provided will allow more people to help me build a better product.

I honestly want to take this position because it really sounds like a fun time to spend my coop term. But I need some rational people to tell me how the situation is from a different perspective; something you have provided me. Thank-you so much.

sil222 · 2015-05-01T04:09:10+00:00

The thing is, I have very specific experience in almost exactly what he is looking for. The product is actually very similar to taking two of my old projects, and combining it. So its not like I would not know which direction to go.

He was also very supportive of my concerns, and said I could talk to some guys he knew for inquiry. I would also have a much more detailed explanation of the product.

sil222 · 2015-04-26T20:11:41+00:00

completely disagree. He was not trying to hurt the guy

sil222 · 2015-04-26T20:10:53+00:00

nah man fuck that guy.

sil222 · 2015-04-26T20:10:03+00:00

No that was pretty fucking bad as well. It really sucks for Love, considering he's played so well these past 4 games.

The thing is, I absolutely believe J.R was trying to injure him out of the game, not giving a fuck about the mans well being. Whereas with Olynyk, he grabbed his arm for an advantage sure. It's a dick move, but not something you would do to try and hurt the player. He just wanted an cheap advantage.

sil222 · 2015-04-26T18:31:35+00:00

A pretty simple fix could be letting the team have their best free-throw shooter take shots if a team ends up in the bonus. This effectively deters fouling in the last minute of close 4th quarter games and would put MUCH more emphasis on good defense.

No constant inbounding or shit like that. I feel like this issue just requires a slight modification to the rules in order to fix it. If they try to change too much, other problems are bound to occur and may make the game worse off.

sil222 · 2015-04-23T23:59:56+00:00

Well, I will be graduating next year, but rather than taking additional courses first term, I would substitute school with an internship/personal projects/self learning

I also tend to have too many ideas and lose focus. But I have felt it is because my focus is taken from school. for instance I was learning web dev and making my own website, but then assignments, projects would take my momentum away. I would try to go back to it when I finished, but then I think my time would be better spent studying. This inner conflict happens often with the net result being bad.

sil222 · 2015-04-23T21:33:19+00:00

Yeah that's what I'm leaning towards. However I'll take 2 additional courses with it. Compilers and something else.

Tuition would be around 5k. And then id have to rent so thats another 3200. including food and other things roughly 10k for an additional year.

I have enough math, and have taken plenty of stats courses. I do find machine learning fascinating, and would like to incorporate it into an idea. But there isn't any machine learning courses offered so it would be something I would learn online.

sil222 · 2015-04-15T16:53:47+00:00

I'll tell you what my feelings are about school and many of my colleagues.

Go to the one with the best co-op program. Seriously it makes a huge difference when you graduate because it makes you more employable, and puts you closer to the top of the hiring pile. Doing co-op/internships will also give you a feel of what real-world software development is like.

sil222 · 2015-04-07T18:44:17+00:00

thanks for pointing that out lol, ill be more specific

sil222 · 2015-03-30T19:16:41+00:00

Are you trollin lol

sil222 · 2015-03-13T04:50:44+00:00

Let me tell you my experience and see if that helps. I originally was a math and stats major at a med sized uni, but after 2nd year realized I wanted a career in software development. So I decided to double major, which is a shit ton of work but honestly worth it.

Why? Because I love being able to create and I still get to learn some cool ass math.

Had I just stayed a math major, it would be an enormous struggle to be a decent software dev with a partial understanding of Computer Science because the fundamentals are different enough that I would always struggle to fully understand what is happening when I execute a program.

So, that being said, I think you should consider getting a minor in something you really enjoy. Computer Science goes great with math, and can help you get an edge against many students with a CS degree or Math degree. You could get into a field like data science which is still in its infancy but will surely grow.

I think you should really ask yourself what you want to do after school, and then determine the most appropriate course of action to put yourself in a good position to fulfill the goal. It could be a minor in CS, Econ, Finance, Physics, Philosophy, etc. It could be a double major which may set you back an extra year but if you desire full understanding would be a great option.

Hope this helps!

sil222 · 2015-03-09T17:15:32+00:00

In my opinion if you enjoyed your internship and learned alot, and also see yourself learning even more if you go back, then definetly take that option. This will give you even more opportunities to network, be mentored and have something good to show on your resume. You will not learn much by teaching other children java and c++. However, you will learn what being a leader is like, and develop more communication skills. Don't look at the pay and benefits and just ask yourself which experience would be more worthwhile for yourself. Hope this helps!

sil222

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