Josh Brewer, Principal Designer at Twitter, presentation at Warm Gun, Nov 30th, 2012

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

2. 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.me
Thursday, November 29, 12

3. So you wanna to join a startup, huh?
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10. http://siliconangle.com/files/2011/01/facebook-stock-IPO.jpg
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11. Beware, the siren song…
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14. Design is in demand.
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15. Startup Weekend:
Introducing Rise of the Designer
http://startupweekend.org/2012/03/19/introducing-rise-of-the-designer/
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16. Fast Company:
Good Design Is Good Business
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1670679/good-design-is-good-business-an-introduction
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17. INC. Magazine:
The 5 Hardest Jobs to Fill in 2012
http://www.inc.com/keith-cline/talent-shortages-in-2012.html
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18. 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.html
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21. Culture · Finance · Product
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22. CULTURE
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23. Culture fit is critical.
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24. Get to know the Founder(s)
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25. “Understand the lengths the
founders are willing to go in order
to prioritize design. There's a
huge difference between
acknowledging design and
truly understanding its value.”
MIKE GOWEN
Thursday, November 29, 12

26. Be honest about your goals
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27. #protip
Don’t be a hopper!
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28. Work/life balance.
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29. Find a flow
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30. Exercise
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31. Nourish your right-brain
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32. FINANCIAL
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33. Money’s not everything.
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34. Money’s not everything.
But make sure you don’t get screwed.
You are valuable.
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35. Compensation
salary, equity, vesting, cliff, etc.
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36. $alary
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37. Equity
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38. · Stock Options
· Restricted Stock Unit
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39. Vesting/cliff
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40. · Stock Options
· Restricted Stock Unit (RSU)
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41. “Shares are meaningless without a
%,
a value, and strike price. If they
won't give you that info, walk
away.”
JUSTIN MAXWELL
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42. 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.html
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43. Burn-rate, Balance & Runway
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44. Get your offer in writing.
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45. #protip
A great accountant can save your ass.
(preferably one with experience dealing with startups)
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46. Investors & Board of Directors
*Both culture and finance
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47. Some terminology…
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48. Investors are part of the make-up of
the Board of Directors.
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49. The company needs the Board’s
approval to do just about anything
significant…
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50. So know who sits on the Board.
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51. PRODUCT
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52. What is the product development
philosophy?
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53. Lean/MVP
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54. Move fast and break things.
(Facebook)
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55. Be rigorous and get it right/Ship it
(Twitter)
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56. “Throwing spaghetti against the wall
to see if it sticks”
(too many companies)
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57. Data-informed > data-driven
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58. A/B test with your eyes wide open.
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59. If you can build it, you will…
(and you should)
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60. Prototype with real data.
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62. Check your ego at the door.
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63. Culture · Finance · Product
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64. THANK YOU
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