Startups
This page outlines startups for a person with a technical background (software engineer/developer/programmer) in Silicon Valley. There are primarily 3 ways to be involved with startups:
Working at a startup
Starting a startup
Investing in a startup
Many people have a career that follow this path. This page outlines the various aspects of a startup.
Working at a startup
Finding a startup
There are several job sites for finding startups to work for:
Interviewing
Many startups use a similar model to Google interviews. We recommend you use the following resources:
Company guides:
Salary and Equity
levels.fyi provides the most accurate estimate for total compensation (e.g., base salary, bonus, and stock grants). Other sites, like Glassdoor, are less inaccurate because they don't correctly capture the stock grant portion, which may end up being the larger portion of compensation.
There are various calculators, like tldroptions.io, that can help you estimate the value of your equity compensation
The general rule of thumb is that you shouldn't expect the equity to pay off at a startup.
Resources
An Engineer's Guide to Silicon Valley Startups by Piaw Na. This is the best book on this topic.
Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble by Dan Lyons. Describes some of the work culture you may encounter.
Starting a startup
Finding a cofounder
Most investors recommend entrepreneurs to have a cofounder. There are several avenues for finding cofounder:
Networking events - see Meetup.com
Networking sites - CoFoundersLab
If you are a technical cofounder, be vary cautious about partnering with business cofounders. For startups, you will be doing most of the hard work.
Getting funding
If you want to get funding, you must network. Although Silicon Valley likes to brand itself as a meritocracy, the investment climate is still dependent on networks.
Incubators
List of Incubators from AngelList
Angels
In general, you need to find your network.
Ventural Capital (VC)
Many VC's will only invest in specific sectors or types of businesses. There are several sites that allow you to do research:
References
How to Start a Startup (Sam Altman Stanford)