30 Things I’ve Done at Startups

  1. I wrote and pushed code to the production servers on my first day at work.
  2. To: team@company.com Message: “Just checked in 10000 attendees on our new iPhone app I finished last night.”  CEO replies all: “Fuck yeah!”
  3. I have had pixie sticks and Red Bull as a meal.
  4. I was in the room as Zuckerberg unveiled the Facebook Graph API.  I was in the room as Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone 4. I’ve held and played with the Samsung Galaxy tablet months before it was announced to the public.
  5. I learned more about coding in one year than I did in the entirety of my college tenure.
  6. I learned more about beer in one year than I did in the entirety of my college tenure.
  7. Sharing the experience of pouring energy and passion into a company is something that can unite even the most unlikely of people.  The bond I have gained with my co-workers is very near unbreakable.  (Related note: I have shared a bed with a co-worker in Tahoe. No homo)
  8. I’ve learned that ping pong is a serious sport.
  9. So is Tequila Shot Tuesday.
  10. I’ve looked up at the clock to find out that it’s midnight, and then looked around the room and find most of my colleagues still working.
  11. I’ve experienced the emotional roller coaster of watching a 15 person company grow to a 200 person company.
  12. Vegas, and strip clubs, and raves, and concerts are all welcome, as long as you do them right (meaning take off the company logo before you do anything belligerent).  (Related: I’ve worked from Vegas before at the Heart Bar.  Perfectly normal.)  (Also related: I’ve worn butterfly wings to several work-related activities.  Perfectly normal.) (Also related: I’ve fallen asleep on the streets of San Francisco wearing a cowboy outfit coming from a restaurant where the ladies are ‘modern miracles of science.’)
  13. Hourly pushups.
  14. I have a patent pending (Please note that I am generally against software patents, but unfortunately we live in a kind of world where IE users can drive vehicles and vote in elections).
  15. I now know a lot of things about computers, but I still feel like I don’t know anything.
  16. I have seen Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, (and met) Ron Conway, (and met (and told that he can’t come into an event unless he has a ticket)) Kevin Rose and Eric Schmidt in person.  I especially feel like I don’t know anything.  Also, MC Hammer and Chamillionaire.  Met ‘em.
  17. I found the I enjoy forking things on github.
  18. I’ve shown up to work in my pajamas.  No one noticed.  I’ve shown up to work in a suit and tie.  Someone asked me if I got a haircut.
  19. I know what it feels like to raise $6 million, and then $20 million, and then $50 million.  (Hint: it feels good)
  20. I have connections (and friends) in companies that are literally altering how humans live life, like Google, Twitter, Facebook, Squareup, LinkedIn, etc.  And even connections in the not so life-altering companies (Digg, Yahoo!)
  21. I believe in the work I do.  I can wake up in the morning (afternoon) and really feel alive when I’m thinking about how to solve the next hard problem.
  22. To: team@company.com Message: “Hey a bunch of us are getting shit-faced at Mars Bar in about 30 minutes.  Catch us there if you can.”
  23. Latest Macbook Pro, check.  32in monitor, check.  Stand-up desk, check. Tickets to conferences like Pycon and WWDC, you better believe it, sister.
  24. “Hey Buf, you have a choice. For your next project, you can either build an iPhone app or a recommendation engine.  Anyway, I’m going to go get a free Nexus One at the I/O conference real quick.”
  25. What does HR stand for?
  26. There is a designated Zen room, in which I have slept numerous times.
  27. WFH (work from home), WFCS (work from coffee shop), WFV (work from Vegas), WFP (work from plane), WFF (work from France), WFW (work from work)
  28. Tech announcements on the projector.
  29. I’ve ridden in the trunk with a CEO to go to a bar.
  30. I have accepted the official hotfix themesong

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  1. business-news-time reblogged this from bufr
  2. dataanxiety reblogged this from bufr and added:
    “coding title”...programming, well,...nitty gritty parts....
  3. bufr posted this