It’s been a very eventful time since my last retro. I went home and spent some time with my family and had a good time getting to have a family holiday meal for the first time in several years. But I also found out the company I’ve been working at is being acquired, and this has me feeling some type of way.

So let me tell you a little bit about my first startup experience.

It was a liquidity event, just not for me

So this was my first time working at a startup. Today is even my 4 year anniversary at the company, and it’s generally been great. I’ve accomplished a lot, I’ve grown a lot as an engineer and as a lead. I’ve gotten to work with very talented engineers and worked on a wide range of things that I had basically never worked on before. My team has been absolutely fantastic and my boss has been the best I’ve had in my career.

I was in it for the long haul. I specifically said I was interested in more stock options for compensation, because I felt like my role was directly attached to the success of the company. I turned down a red team role at Meta, with a higher tcomp, in order to take this job.

Joining in 2021 was interesting, because I feel like we were still in the stages where raising money wasn’t crazy difficult. It was the tail end of the ZIRP times. So we were super focused on growth. The team size grew significantly during my first year, it felt like nearly 100% growth.

Then interest rates started rising, raising funds started getting harder, and the layoffs started occurring across the whole tech industry. During the layoffs in 2023 and 2024, someone on my team was impacted each time, but I survived. But the company was reorienting from growth at all costs towards “how do we become profitable and sustainable” - a business value that I personally resonate with quite a lot. So I was hopeful.

But the week before last, we learned of an acquisition. I don’t have the full context on the decisions that led to the sale, but it was clear that we were being acquired. Unfortunately for me and my large pile of mostly-vested Incentive Stock Options, the sale price was less than the strike price on even my cheapest traunch.

My upside at the startup went from “could be worth a decent amount if we go public” to literally 0 in one email.

This was a known risk going into the startup - it could always end up not being worth anything. So from a pure business perspective, I think the sale was the right decision. But personally, I feel like I would have rather rode out either until profitability or until we have to close our doors. To really know that we gave it our all, you know?

My experience so far with the new company has been… suboptimal. But I’ll save that rant for another time. Things might change, and I don’t want to stir the pot.

BSides SF

I missed the first day of BSides SF this past weekend, but I was able to attend on Sunday and I had a really great time. It was nice catching up with so many people that I haven’t seen in quite a while, or that I’ve only seen briefly in passing and haven’t had time to catch up with. I got to chat with people about some of the projects I’m working on, got feedback on it, talked about some upcoming opportunities, and just generally had a good time.

While the work situation has been a bit of a bummer, attending BSides helped revitalize me and give me energy.

Upcoming Projects

  • Defcon Call for Music/Tracks - I’ve submitted to the call for artists, and I’m really going to buckle down in the next week or so to get this soundtrack song ready.
  • I want to do more live shows at hacker cons. I’ll do it for the cost of getting to the con and the hotel room. If you, or someone you know, is organizing hacker cons or hacker parties and wants some new live nerdy rap shows, please reach out via any of the platforms on my page.