Aug 30, 2026
Use your own model to evaluate the company (startup). It's important to figure out what the startup is really doing because their description on the infomation pages might be ambiguous. You may use AI to brag about your resume, and so does the company you are applying to. So from the intern/employee's perspective, it's worth to ask several questions before trying to apply or signing a contract to a company: What's the company's product and user? Does the company show consistency in their mission in different web pages? Does the company really match what they can provide with the team size and resources they have? Also, it's always a good idea to have a probation period before getting officially employed so you get to know the company better before fully committing.
The key to manage people is to give them ownership. I personally feel much more motivated when I have real ownership to my company, and would even be willing to do some dirty work. Some of the best ways to give ownership include giving equity, giving them space to do things they want, giving them space to do things they don't want [1], etc. Small details also help. For example, when there are people from different backgrounds in a room, try to use the language most people can understand (usually English). It may not be the language you are most comfortable with, but it is an even worse experience for the person around you to listen to you talking in an alien language - they will feel abandoned. Another example is to use requests rather than imperatives. However, besides giving ownerships, the founder should still be aware to get involved in the details and micromanage important things, this is also discussed in Paul Graham’s essay Founder Mode.
Leverage the internet to expose the company to more people. It's one of the cheapest ways to do marketing. Spend dedicated time building the company website [2] and post regularly on social platforms, but do not take the number of followers as the metric of the company’s success. Ultimately, the only thing that matters is user growth, and your target user might not even necessarily be one of your followers.
Try to build relationships with recognizable names that can serve as credentials if possible. YC, prestigious schools where you graduated from, and other strong names all carry weight. Never overlook the importance of the company name. This is important probably because at the early stage, it's an effective way to build trust quickly before they know your product very well.
Focus on scaling. Startups means growth, and the only way that leads to fast growth is by scaling. Try to make things replicable -- this is natural for a software company, but also applies to hardware company -- that probably means taking building and standarizing the software part in a machine (if it has one) as priority, other ways include standarizing machine design, outsourcing machine assembly to other manufacturer. It also helps to narrow down the products that the company serves at first. Too many products means the team has to adapt every time, which works against scaling.
Meetups are generally a waste of time. Sam Altman has mentioned this in his startup advice, I think it holds true especially for employees. The value of meeting new people in tech is mainly seeking new potential opportunities, and for a company, this means partners, investors and customers. But most meetups are designed for merely meeting new people, they are too random to fit the company's need very tightly (some might join the meetup not for tech, but for the free food it offers).
[1] Steve Jobs once said there are probably 25 things that are really important in a year, so besides those things, it's okay to let people do things in their own choices, even when the consequences are mistakes, but usually, this won't lead to a worse result. And if people can solve problems by their own, it will be much better because it allows you to save attention to more important problems. ↩
[2] While building the company's online profile, be aware to show consistency in different pages, as it is mentioned in the first paragraph. ↩
Last modified on Aug 30, 2026