Applying to work at a startup
04-Jan-09
I currently work for a “startup” software company which (IMHO) has grown too fast by adding too many of the wrong sort of people. We are burdened down with middle-management folks who see their career path as moving further away from fiddling details and into hand-waving strategic decision making. Unfortunately, that’s the exact opposite of what a small company needs.
One clear direction, obvious to all, and everyone getting their hands dirty doing work which actually moves the product or service in that direction. Seems pretty simple, but apparently very hard to achieve.
Joel Spolsky has written about applying for work at a startup (Another resume tip - Joel on Software). It’s useful information, but only if the organisation has not already been infected by the middle-management virus. As soon as you hire people who don’t see their job as actually producing stuff, and let them have any responsibility for hiring, all you get is more of the same. Yes-men, scapegoats, delegators, meeting-organisers, travel-expensers and the whole “human resources” infrastructure which accompanies them.
Does anyone know of a cure for this disease?