High-tech job security through start ups and downs

When I was growing up, I always liked Aesop's Fables.  I recognized them as a set of wonderfully bucolic analogies which, even 2,500 years after they were written, are appropriate to the issues and problems confronting modern society. There is a little known additional volume to the original fables, called Aesop's 'Less-well-known-fables', from which I take this story. This one, called the 'pointy stick', provides a timely explanation of life in the high-tech, start-up environments in which most of us participate at one time or another.

Over the years, I have worked for a number of start-ups, some of which prospered to become global megaliths and some of which no-one has ever heard of again. In every one, it was essentially the same story - there are only two places you can feel safer with regards to your future. Remember, of course, that there is no such thing as the 'certain thing', so it is all a matter of alia iacta est ('the die is cast') anyhow. But, as usual, I digress, so let us get back to the fable.

It's a startup.  Three bright young things (i.e. geeks) have this great idea for the next best iThing on the Internet.  They work 18 hours a day coding and testing, but they are at the first 'pointy end of the stick', actually creating the PRODUCT.

 

... and they get the first release out and then they realize that they have to sell it to customers, so they go get a 'sales guy'. Usually, the 'sales guy' is an out-of-work buddy from college with the gift of the gab. Geeks rarely can sell, so they need someone who can talk to the CUSTOMER and suddenly they have a whole stick, with two pointy ends. Life is good. The 'sales guy' has a pretty good idea what the PRODUCT does, and the geeks have a pretty good idea of what the CUSTOMER wants, and all is well.

... and then they realize they need to grow and exploit their iThing. So they raise some money from venture capitalists and have to get an accounting department, an office manager, some admin staff and the stick starts to grow.  The pointy ends get a little farther apart, but the 'sales guys' still have a pretty good idea what the PRODUCT does, and the geeks have a pretty good idea of what the CUSTOMER wants, and the new folks in the middle of the stick understand a little of the PRODUCT and a little of the CUSTOMER.

... and then, the iThing takes off like a banshee, and they have to get planning people, and financial people, and administrative assistants and managers ... and everyone has to meet and discuss things.

... and in no time at all, there are marketing folks, and PR folks, and quality experts, and consultants, and people who manage the people who manage the people who produce the PRODUCT, and there are regional sales offices with people who manage the people who manage the people who sell. The geeks still understand the PRODUCT and what it does, but are a little less sure it does what the customer wants. The 'sales guys' have a small clue as to what they are selling to the CUSTOMER, but are never allowed to speak to the geeks any more, or vice-versa. The folks in the middle of the stick are way too busy organizing meetings, or going to conventions, or having happy-hours, so they have no clue what the PRODUCT actually does, and couldn't care less about what the CUSTOMER actually wants. Life is good in corporate America!

But then it all starts to go a little pear-shaped. They already fired the original sales guys because they were making too much money and that didn't sit well with the accounting folks in the middle of the stick. Since none of the new sales folks really knows about the PRODUCT, they are selling the CUSTOMER what they think he wants, not what the PRODUCT actually does. Since the development folks aren't allowed to talk to the sales folks any more, they have no real idea what the CUSTOMER is asking for, and they stumble on adding features that are neat, but unusable and unwanted. The folks in the middle of the stick are blindly spending money on 'donut days', golf outings with logoed shirts and  'presentation training' courses, still with absolutely no idea what the PRODUCT does or what the CUSTOMER issues are. The pointy-ends-of-the-stick are so far apart that the folks in the middle put the developers and the PRODUCT in the warehouse at the end of the street since they don't want the people in jeans and t-shirts to spoil the 'corporate headquarters' image. The sales folks are out in the field, out of mind, occasionally visiting the CUSTOMER, but usually looking for another job.

... and then the venture capitalists decide they're not going to fund the next round ... and the company has to cut back ... and where do you think they are going to do that?

One thing I will concede about VCs is that they understand the two vital aspects of any company - what PRODUCT do you have, and who are your CUSTOMERS. So, in no time at all, there are layoffs, firings, salary reductions and all the other awful things that accompany an organization in decline. Eventually, all we have left is ...

Remember, if you want to be as safe as you can be, STAY AT THE POINT ENDS OF THE STICK.

Glyn Meek, with 40 years of experience in the technology industry, has earned his curmudgeonly outlook.