tvjoshi

tvjoshi edited the description of An Engineer's Guide to Silicon Valley Startups Monday, April 5, 2010.

• I've worked at 5 different startups in my career in Silicon Valley. While every company is unique, there are many similarities between Silicon Valley startups. As workplaces go, Silicon Valley startups embody the American dream: they're exciting, fun, and provide employees with great flexibility and freedom. Join the right startup, and you can change the world! This book covers topics of interest to anyone who wants to work at startups:

  * How do you get a job at a startup?
  * How do you choose which startups to talk to?
  * How do you approach interviewing at a startup?
  * How would you negotiate compensation?
  * Once at a startup, what should you do to maximize gains from stock options?
  * Why is it advantageous to exercise your stock options in certain conditions?
  * What do the clauses in your offer letter mean?
  * How do the clauses in your stock options contract affect you?

  Drawing from my 17 years of experience at various pre-IPO companies in Silicon Valley, I provide answers to the above questions. Extensive examples, case studies, and detailed background are in the book. After learning about the personal finance side of handling stock options, I joined Google less than a year before the IPO and discovered that what I had learned was hardly common knowledge. Despite explaining the details to several colleagues, many chose not to do the financially advantageous thing, leading to an increased tax liability of several hundred thousand dollars. This book was the result of observing these failures, and trying to prevent others from making the same mistakes.

tvjoshi uploaded a cover image to An Engineer's Guide to Silicon Valley Startups Monday, April 5, 2010.

tvjoshi created the book An Engineer's Guide to Silicon Valley Startups Monday, April 5, 2010.