Josh Brewer, Twitter, Warm Gun 2012

WHAT NO-ONE TELLS YOU (BUT YOU NEED TO KNOW) ABOUT JOINING A STARTUP JOSH BREWER / WARM GUN / NOV 30, 2012Thursday, November 29, 12

Josh Brewer Principal Designer at Twitter Former Director of UX at Socialcast Advisor/Mentor at The Designer Fund Co-creator of 52WeeksOfUX.com, Shares, Responsive Measure & Fﬀfallback jbrewer.meThursday, November 29, 12

So you wanna to join a startup, huh?Thursday, November 29, 12

Thursday, November 29, 12

http://siliconangle.com/files/2011/01/facebook-stock-IPO.jpgThursday, November 29, 12

Beware, the siren song…Thursday, November 29, 12

Design is in demand.Thursday, November 29, 12

Startup Weekend: Introducing Rise of the Designer http://startupweekend.org/2012/03/19/introducing-rise-of-the-designer/Thursday, November 29, 12

Fast Company: Good Design Is Good Business http://www.fastcodesign.com/1670679/good-design-is-good-business-an-introductionThursday, November 29, 12

INC. Magazine: The 5 Hardest Jobs to Fill in 2012 http://www.inc.com/keith-cline/talent-shortages-in-2012.htmlThursday, November 29, 12

INC. Magazine: The 5 Hardest Jobs to Fill in 2012 (hint: Design is one of them) http://www.inc.com/keith-cline/talent-shortages-in-2012.htmlThursday, November 29, 12

Culture · Finance · ProductThursday, November 29, 12

CULTUREThursday, November 29, 12

Culture ﬁt is critical.Thursday, November 29, 12

Get to know the Founder(s)Thursday, November 29, 12

“Understand the lengths the founders are willing to go in order to prioritize design. Theres a huge difference between acknowledging design and truly understanding its value.” MIKE GOWENThursday, November 29, 12

Be honest about your goalsThursday, November 29, 12

#protip Don’t be a hopper!Thursday, November 29, 12

Work/life balance.Thursday, November 29, 12

Find a ﬂowThursday, November 29, 12

ExerciseThursday, November 29, 12

Nourish your right-brainThursday, November 29, 12

FINANCIALThursday, November 29, 12

Money’s not everything.Thursday, November 29, 12

Money’s not everything. But make sure you don’t get screwed. You are valuable.Thursday, November 29, 12

Compensation salary, equity, vesting, cliﬀ, etc.Thursday, November 29, 12

$alaryThursday, November 29, 12

EquityThursday, November 29, 12

· Stock Options · Restricted Stock UnitThursday, November 29, 12

Vesting/cliﬀThursday, November 29, 12

· Stock Options · Restricted Stock Unit (RSU)Thursday, November 29, 12

“Shares are meaningless without a %, a value, and strike price. If they wont give you that info, walk away.” JUSTIN MAXWELLThursday, November 29, 12

Ballpark equity compensation for early-stage co via Guy Kawasaki Senior engineer: 0.3 - 0.7% Mid-level engineer: 0.2 - 0.4% Product manager: 0.2 - 0.3% Architect, i.e., the “main (wo)man,” though an individual contributor: 1 - 1.5% Vice presidents: 1.5 - 3% CEO, i.e., “adult supervision” brought in to replace the founder: 5 - 10% blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/03/nine_questions.htmlThursday, November 29, 12

Burn-rate, Balance & RunwayThursday, November 29, 12

Get your oﬀer in writing.Thursday, November 29, 12

#protip A great accountant can save your ass. (preferably one with experience dealing with startups)Thursday, November 29, 12

Investors & Board of Directors *Both culture and ﬁnanceThursday, November 29, 12

Some terminology…Thursday, November 29, 12

Investors are part of the make-up of the Board of Directors.Thursday, November 29, 12

The company needs the Board’s approval to do just about anything signiﬁcant…Thursday, November 29, 12

So know who sits on the Board.Thursday, November 29, 12

PRODUCTThursday, November 29, 12

What is the product development philosophy?Thursday, November 29, 12

Lean/MVPThursday, November 29, 12

Move fast and break things. (Facebook)Thursday, November 29, 12

Be rigorous and get it right/Ship it (Twitter)Thursday, November 29, 12

“Throwing spaghetti against the wall to see if it sticks” (too many companies)Thursday, November 29, 12

Data-informed > data-drivenThursday, November 29, 12

A/B test with your eyes wide open.Thursday, November 29, 12

If you can build it, you will… (and you should)Thursday, November 29, 12

Prototype with real data.Thursday, November 29, 12

Check your ego at the door.Thursday, November 29, 12

Culture · Finance · ProductThursday, November 29, 12

THANK YOUThursday, November 29, 12

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Josh Brewer, Twitter, Warm Gun 2012

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