Do people still consider working at start-ups?

[hungry_hog]

I would consider it.
It is a risk as often the pay is lower and hours can be high. but then you can say that about many "large" firms!

But the upside can be huge, and you are unlikely to get that upside at the large firm, unless you climb the latter to the top

[PerfectStorm]

Generally good places to be. it's the old, fat and slow companies that have all the bureaucracy and attract pro-bureaucracy contractors... avoid those

If you want to get anything done, go to a startup. If you want to fill in forms to prove you've used a methodology, go to a big company

[NotAllThere]

The successful one was a newly started consultancy company where one of the directors had an idea for a product.

I wrote it according to his spec. I was paid about 1/3 my normal rate for my time, but received x% of the sales gross income for y years. Netted me a few hundred thousand for a few weeks work + support. Enough to pay off most of the mortgage and create a substantial share portfolio. For the years I was getting essentially passive income, I was also working at top dollar elsewhere.

No one knew if it would fly, but the product became their flagship, enabling them to sell consultancy services on the back of it. It's now a component of a suite of security products massively speeding up creation, deployment and migration of security concepts in SAP.

I got the work because I'd known the director for years and had helped him begin his freelancing career, so we knew and trusted one another. He still had to sell it quite hard to the other directors.

The one that failed was also SAP security related - what killed it was a) an unclear spec and b) the credit crunch. I didn't make a penny on that. But didn't lose anything either, since although we were equal partners, he funded it and I did the development.

[jayn200]

It's funny I think people always have this impression that tech start ups are these fun places where everyone is using the newest and latest systems and processes... In reality they are growing so fast and no one knows what they are doing that the entire companies run in excel. They have no processes, no systems, when they do implement a system it either fails or they outgrow it in a couple months... They are such a headache and a pain in the ass.

Still would for the right money, I will work almost anywhere for the right price.

[courtg9000]

Look, startups are risky by their vary nature.
But good opportunities do exist.
Key point to consider: You could be in a position where you could not be paid for either or both of substantive and substantial work and the sell on IPR value if you hold it may be negligible.
They can be lucrative and they can be a waste of time.
Do proper profiling on the startup. Its not difficult. Get hold of the CV's of founders/staff - easy to do. do some digging - takes a bit of time. Ring round on their linkedin profiles. Do a credit reference check etc etc. Talk to other people they have worked with in the past.
Then weigh that info up against your risk profile.
I have a database (closed) with about 200 still valid startups on it alongside the other 9500 or so business and property opportunities worth a total of £3.2 or so billion. I would say that of those 200 10% are very risky. Someone else would say that not only are the 200 risky but all the other 9500 or so opportunities on my list are high risk too. I would say that buying a kebab from a certain local kebab shop to me is higher risk than some of this stuff!
People also say that Bitcoin is very high risk.
Bottom line risk is very personal to the individual.

[vwdan]

I'm going to answer a tenative yes - because I've worked for smaller firms and start-ups but they're probably not what people have in mind. More boutique consultancies - so, really, the work as a contractor is much the same. On the other hand, I don't think I'd ever take a permie job with a traditional consultancy, but might consider going permie with a smaller firm.

Anyway, I've always rather enjoyed it. Had probably one of the best years of contracting (in terms of job satisfaction) through a small consultancy - literally 3 or 4 permanent staff. Great fun, also had a retainer system.

I'd never rule out any type of client outright - they all come with their pros and cons

[jamesbrown]

I'd never rule out any type of client outright - they all come with their pros and cons

Yup, very wise.

[d000hg]

I'm not sure if my client is technically a start-up but they're certainly an SME. In fact come to think of it, I have only contracted at SMEs. I've worked at startups of about 3 people. Kind of fun when it's the remote equivalent of "doing it from your garage", lots of freedom and no bureaucracy.