So, you want to create your own startup? — Should you join an early stage startup first?
Note: These thoughts target engineers and product people from major tech companies like Meta, Amazon, Twitter, Salesforce, Snap, and Stripe. While not universally applicable, the logic can transfer to startup-minded individuals.
At seed-stage startups like Prepared, finding entrepreneurial co-workers presents a significant challenge. Many talented people ask: "Why shouldn't I just start my own startup?"
Why Create Your Own Startup?
(Inspired by Dustin Moskovitz's lecture "Why building a startup?" and related notes)
Standard Reasons (That Don't Hold Up)
It's Glamorous
False. Startup work involves grueling hours, constant stress, relentless fire-fighting, handling customer support, managing sales, solving complex technical problems, and remaining unavailable. You become the sole keeper of critical operations initially.
You'll Be the Boss
False. Your customers, employees, and investors all become your bosses in different capacities.
Flexibility
False. You're perpetually on-call. Your behavior sets the cultural standard—if you slack off or panic, your team mirrors that response. You cannot truly disengage.
More Money
False. According to Moskovitz's analysis, joining an early-stage startup generates comparable financial returns to founding independently.
More Impact
False. Joining a seed-funded startup often produces greater impact than founding unfunded. Most startups never secure funding, therefore most lack meaningful impact.
"If I Don't Do It Now, I Won't Have Another Chance"
While possibly true, FOMO-driven motivation evaporates during 80+ hour work weeks.
The Right Reasons to Create a Startup
- Passion-driven: "You can't not do it because you're so passionate"
- Mission-driven: "You can't not do it because the world needs it"
- Unique capability: "You can't not do it because you're the best person to do it"
These reasons sustain founders through hardship. At Prepared, the drive comes from genuine passion for emergency preparedness and witnessing how the product enables life-saving outcomes for customers.
"The best way to get burned out is to not truly care about what you are working every day on."
Founders solve identical problems continuously. Technical founders operate perpetually on-call. Without authentic passion or compelling mission alignment, burnout becomes inevitable, and the requisite team-rallying energy disappears.
If your idea satisfies at least one reason, pursue it fully. Similarly, if an early-stage company aligns with these criteria, strongly consider joining.
How Early-Stage Startups Prepare Exceptional Founders
Practical Learning Outcomes
Building Zero-to-One Products
Early-stage companies lack established user bases and resources. This environment teaches scrappy thinking, identifying what fails, and discovering what succeeds.
Creating Exceptional Culture
Understanding culture creation proves challenging in large organizations. Observing how culture evolves through different growth stages becomes crucial for long-term success.
Exponential Product Growth
Constant iteration refines prioritization frameworks and discovery engines. Technical teams build infrastructure from zero-to-one and scale toward exponential customer growth.
Managing Change Under Pressure
Significant gaps exist between theory and practice. Early-stage experience fills this gap through repeated failures and learning cycles—invaluable for future entrepreneurial ventures.
Disrupting Seemingly Undisruptable Industries
Prepared approaches customer acquisition differently within local gov-tech, a space lacking significant VC innovation. This unique thinking emerges from positioning yourself strategically and observing how pieces align.
Beyond the Job: Advanced Learning
Exceptional early-stage startups elevate entire teams through mentorship and transparency.
Access to Mentorship
Prepared pairs every employee with a mentor representing their six-year future self (facilitated through First Round Capital). This connection leverages experienced guidance from someone who has walked the same path and achieved similar goals.
Startup-Minded Teams
Every early employee should theoretically possess startup-creation capability. Surrounding yourself with exceptionally capable engineers, product managers, and executives sharing entrepreneurial mindsets helps you identify which people and traits succeed in different roles. The hiring process reveals which archetypes thrive or falter in startup environments.
Understanding Investors
Early-stage startups should maintain radical transparency regarding goals and investor expectations across quarters, years, and funding rounds. This evolving landscape teaches what attracts funding and which investor types fit best—especially critical given current market conditions.
Prepared regularly hosts investor events and maintains open communication channels. Future hires connect directly with investors for independent vetting, which investors appreciate because early employees represent future founders and investment opportunities.
Learning on Someone Else's Dime
"Joining an early-stage startup lets you learn (and fail) on someone else's dime."
Working within small teams on challenging problems while driven by mission accomplishes everything about founding except the personal financial risk. The foundation, networks, customers, and difficult problems already exist. No early-stage startup has everything figured out—the hardest challenges remain ahead.
Most Prepared engineers and early employees previously attempted creating independent startups and plan future entrepreneurial ventures. Currently, their motivation stems from:
- The organization's mission (building life-saving software)
- Skills acquired that position them for future success
Theory from books and Y Combinator videos represents merely the first step. Translating ideas into successful practice requires both luck and experience.
Early-stage companies de-risk significantly through funding and exceptional hiring. If your goal involves learning to position yourself for successful entrepreneurship, joining an early-stage company prevents early-stage fumbling.
Investors typically seek startup-experienced people during hiring, just as startups do. Early-stage startup involvement demonstrating instrumental contributions directly indicates entrepreneurial commitment and capability—reducing investor risk.
So... Should You Create or Join?
No experience surpasses attempting your own venture from scratch and learning through failure. The question becomes: Can you afford failing on your own dime, or should you fail on someone else's?
Decision framework:
- If your idea addresses a world need, ignites passion, or only you can execute it—create.
- If you identify an early-stage company meeting those criteria—join and commit fully.
Interested in Prepared? Reach Neal Soni: neal @ prepared911.com