This is the talk I gave at MIT's Martin Center for Entrepreneurship. It's a talk I wish someone gave me when I was in college to help me think about the role of entrepreneurship and startups in my career. You can find the video of the talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rus32iR_Ag0

1. THE TRUTH ABOUT STARTUPS
What I wish someone had told me about entrepreneurship,
Silicon Valley, and successful careers

2. In the past, most people would tell
you to:

3. Get a job at a big,
established company

4. Achieve job securityClimb the corporate ladder

5. Achieve job security

6. Sounds great, but…

8. Mmm, yeah, I’m going to have to go ahead
and ask you to come in on Sunday…

10. Nowadays, it’s all
about startups:

14. Sounds great, but…

18. So what do you do?

19. I’m
Yevgeniy
Brikman
ybrikman.com

20. Co-founder of
Gruntwork
gruntwork.io

21. PAST
LIVES

22. Author of
Hello,
Startup
hello-startup.net

23. This is the
book I wish
I had in
college
hello-startup.net

24. I hope this
talk & book
help you in
your career
hello-startup.net

25. 1. Startup myths
2. Startup truths
3. Startup careers
4. Getting started
Outline

26. 1. Startup myths
2. Startup truths
3. Startup careers
4. Getting started
Outline

27. Myth #1: I’ll be an overnight
success!

29. Reality:

30. “Acquired companies were an
average of seven years old…

31. …while IPO companies went public
around 8.25 years, on average.”

32. Note: “exits” for the investors.
Founders stay on longer.

33. So if you remember nothing else
from this talk, remember this:

34. Building a successful startup takes
about a decade.

35. Are you willing to give 10 years of
your life to this idea?

36. Myth #2: I’m going to get rich!

38. Reality:

39. Most startups pay lower salaries
and offer few benefits

40. The stock is often worthless

41. And most startups fail

42. Myth #3: I’ll get to party all day!

45. Reality:

46. This is startup life.

47. It’s not sexy or glamorous.
It’s mostly a lot of hard work.

48. Myth #4: I’ll get to write code
all day!

49. Some programmers might be
thinking, “this looks great!”

50. Reality:

51. Building a successful startup
takes more than just code

52. Sure, you’ll write plenty of code

53. But you’ll also have to do
everything else, including:

54. operating agreements, articles of incorporation, employment
contracts, licenses, permits, insurance, NDAs, term sheets, financial
modeling, P&L, balance sheet, fundraising, budgeting, cap table,
stock certificates, taxes, 81b, 1040, 1099, 1120, W2, pitch decks,
customer acquisition, sales calls, CRM, LTV, churn recurring
revenue, billing, invoicing, refunds, receipts, interviewing, hiring,
firing, promoting, training, motivating, organizing, leading, payroll,
HR, mission, vision, culture, renting office space, building a website,
setting up email/phone/fax, buying furniture, ordering toilet paper, …

55. Myth #5: All I need is a
brilliant idea!

57. Reality:

58. “What surprised me
most was how unsure
the founders seemed to
be that they were
actually onto something
big. Some of these
companies got started
almost by accident.”

59. It’s not about coming up with a
single brilliant idea

60. It’s about navigating an
idea maze

61. Most paths lead to failure. A small
few lead to success.

62. And even the best ideas don’t
matter without great execution

63. 1. Startup myths
2. Startup truths
3. Startup careers
4. Getting started
Outline

64. You’ve now seen some common
startup myths

65. It’s not that they never happen, but
they are bad reasons to join or
start a startup.

66. So what are the good reasons to
join or start a startup?

68. 1. Mastery
2. Autonomy
3. Purpose

69. Mastery: The urge to get better at
something.

70. “I've come to believe
that learning is the
essential unit of
progress for
startups.”
– Eric Ries

71. Learning how to build a
product users want

72. Learning how to market
and sell a product

73. Learning how to build
and motivate a team

74. Learning how to…

75. operating agreements, articles of incorporation, employment
contracts, licenses, permits, insurance, NDAs, term sheets, financial
modeling, P&L, balance sheet, fundraising, budgeting, cap table,
stock certificates, taxes, 81b, 1040, 1099, 1120, W2, pitch decks,
customer acquisition, sales calls, CRM, LTV, churn recurring
revenue, billing, invoicing, refunds, receipts, interviewing, hiring,
firing, promoting, training, motivating, organizing, leading, payroll,
HR, mission, vision, culture, renting office space, building a website,
setting up email/phone/fax, buying furniture, ordering toilet paper, …

76. Join a startup if you want to grow
as a person

77. “A startup is a company
designed to grow fast. Being
newly founded does not in itself
make a company a startup. Nor
is it necessary for a startup to
work on technology, or take
venture funding, or have some
sort of "exit." The only essential
thing is growth. ”
– Paul Graham

78. Working for a growing company is
an amazing experience

84. Autonomy: The urge to control
your life.

85. At a startup, you choose
what to work on

86. At a startup, you choose
who to work with

87. At a startup, you choose
how to work

88. At a startup, you choose
where to work

90. Purpose: The urge to do something
meaningful.

92. Gruntwork’s why:

93. We believe software is one of
humanity’s greatest inventions.

97. We also believe that
creating software is too hard.

99. We believe making software more
accessible will
transform humanity.

100. This is what gets
me up in the morning.

101. As a startup, we are searching for
the right what and how.

102. “[Established] Companies
execute business models
where customers, their
problems, and necessary
product features are all
“knowns.” In sharp contrast,
startups operate in “search”
mode, seeking a repeatable
and profitable business model.”
– Steve Blank

103. It turns out that search mode
is more fun

104. It’s hard to feel passionate about
increasing profit margin by 0.3%

105. It’s hard not to feel passionate
about fighting for survival

106. When you’re one of 5,000
employees, you rarely feel like
you’re making a difference

107. When the company is 5 people,
everything you do matters

108. 1. Startup myths
2. Startup truths
3. Startup careers
4. Getting started
Outline

109. You’ve now seen reasons you
should or shouldn’t join a startup

110. So where do startups
fit in your career?

111. 1. Join an established company
2. Join a small startup
3. Start your own company

112. 1. Join an established company
2. Join a small startup
3. Start your own company

113. At least once in your career, join a
big, established company

114. Try to join one of the leaders in
your industry

115. A “Google” on your resume will
benefit you your entire career

116. You will work with amazing people

117. You will make a good salary
(pay off your loans!)

118. You will learn how a successful
company operates

119. You’ll also learn how not to do
things

120. 1. Join an established company
2. Join a small startup
3. Start your own company

121. At least once in your career,
join a small startup

122. Now is the golden age
of the startup.

127. Average tenure for a firm
in the S&P 500:
1958: 61 years
1980: 25 years
2012: 18 years

128. “On average, an S&P 500
company is now being
replaced about once every
two weeks […] At current
churn rate, 75% of the S&P
500 will be replaced by
2027.”

129. Open source 19+ million repositories on GitHub.
Services AWS, Twilio, Stripe, MailChimp, Slack,
DesignCrowd, RocketLawyer, …
Distribution Mobile, email, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn,
Reddit, Meetup.com, YouTube, AdWords, …
Information Books, classes, blogs, accelerators, incubators,
conferences, …
Money Venture capital, angels, crowdfunding,
government grants, self-funding, …

130. So why join a startup instead of
starting your own?

131. If you start a startup, you are stuck
with it for up to a decade.

132. In that same time period, you can
join 3-4 startups.

133. Earning experience, connections,
and stock at each one.

134. “The 100th engineer at
Facebook made far
more money than 99%
of Silicon Valley
entrepreneurs.”
– Dustin Moskovitz

135. Some people chase ambulances

136. Some people chase IPOs

137. How do you find a good
startup to join?

138. 1. Look to your network.
2. Look at the products you use.
3. Look at elite VC portfolios.

140. 1. Join an established company
2. Join a small startup
3. Start your own company

141. You’ll probably have more fun and
make more money joining
someone else’s company.

142. As a founder,
you will make
roughly 10x the
sacrifice.

143. 10x more stress
10x more risk
10x more time

144. So is it ever a good idea
to start a company?

145. Yes:
When you can’t not do it.

146. You have an idea or passion that
you simply must do.

147. You’ve worked on it for years,
even while at other jobs.

148. You just have to bring your dream
into the world.

149. Just remember: a startup is one
way to accomplish your dream.

150. 1. Do a side project.
2. Go into politics.
3. Do volunteer activities.
4. Build a community.
5. Join someone else’s company.
6. Invest in someone else’s company.
7. Start a non-profit.
8. Start a lifestyle business.
9. Start a startup.
10. Do academic research.
11. Publish articles, papers, and books.
12. Give talks.
13. Create an open source project.
14. Become an advisor or mentor.
15. Become a teacher.

151. 1. Do a side project.
2. Go into politics.
3. Do volunteer activities.
4. Build a community.
5. Join someone else’s company.
6. Invest in someone else’s company.
7. Start a non-profit.
8. Start a lifestyle business.
9. Start a startup.
10. Do academic research.
11. Publish articles, papers, and books.
12. Give talks.
13. Create an open source project.
14. Become an advisor or mentor.
15. Become a teacher.
A startup is merely one means to
an end.

152. 1. Startup myths
2. Startup truths
3. Startup careers
4. Getting started
Outline

153. So how do you start? How do you
build a good career?

154. “You need to be good at
something before you can
expect a good job.”
– Cal Newport

155. “The way to get
startup ideas is not
to try to think of
startup ideas […]
The way to have
good startup ideas
is to become the
sort of person who
has them.”
– Paul Graham

156. The way to have a great career is
not to search for a great career but
to make yourself great.

157. How to become great:
1. Study
2. Build
3. Share

158. How to become great:
1. Study
2. Build
3. Share

159. Read books

160. Read papers, articles, blogs

161. Take classes

162. Go to meetups, conferences, and
talks (like this one!)

163. Aim to be a “T-Shaped Person”

164. How to become great:
1. Study
2. Build
3. Share

165. When I was a kid,
I didn’t like reading.

166. When I was in college,
I didn’t like reading.

167. When I was starting my career,
I didn’t like reading.

168. You know what finally got
me to love reading?

169. Becoming a person who
needs reading.

170. What kind of person is that?

171. A maker.

172. As I tried to build software, teams,
& products, I realized:

173. I have no idea what I’m doing.

174. It turns out that the knowledge I
needed was in books.

175. The more I built, the more I had to
learn, the more I read.

176. Go make things.

177. Work projects, side projects, learning
projects, open source, hackathons, prototypes,
inventions, art, music, teams, communities, …

178. How to become great:
1. Study
2. Build
3. Share

179. Share everything you’ve learned

180. Write

181. Speak

182. Open source

183. Why?

184. Quality: you do better work when
others are looking.

185. Branding: you become an expert
by sharing your expertise.

186. Mastery: the best way to learn
is to teach.

187. That’s why I’m here today.

188. To share what I’ve learned
with all of you.

189. To learn
more, see
Hello,
Startup
hello-startup.net

190. Questions?

191. Office buildings: Floriane Vita
Man in suit: energiepic.com
Ladder: Miguel Virkkunen Carvalho
Cubicles: Tim Patterson
Office Space: 20th Century Fox
The Social Network: Columbia Pictures
Silicon Valley: HBO
The 4-hour Work Week: Tim Ferriss
Ping pong: SageChimera
Biz Stone: Joi Ito
Coding: Hitesh Choudhary
Steve Jobs: Matthew Yohe
Mark Zuckerberg: Brian Solis
Reid Hoffman: Joi Ito
Idea maze: Chris Dixon
Robert Heinlein: Wikimedia
Primitive Wheel: John O’Neill
Camp Fire: Eric Dufresne
Code: Ilya Pavlov
Software frustration: Tim Gouw
Coffee: David Mao
Steve Blank: Eric Millette
Paul Graham: Dave Thomas
Dustin Moskovitz: Dustin Moskovitz
Ambulance: Paul Sableman
Stressed woman: Aledander Dummer
Woman writing: Startup Stock Photos
Man and whiteboard: Startup Stock Photos
Classroom: Wokandapix
Journals: Lum3n
Meetup: Sebastiaan ter Burg
T-Shaped Person: Valve
Writing: Alvaro Serrano
Teaching: Pop Tech
Pair coding: Startup Stock Photos
Expert: Graham Lavender
References & image credits