Gabriel Jarrosson’s Post

The discussion in Silicon Valley is shifting: Engineers question the wisdom of joining startups amid growing tech giants' allure, highlighting a salary gulf and talent competition. Solutions like better pay, flexible work policies, and culture focus are suggested to attract top engineers. For more details, check out the full article on Pocket:

Shout out to my mate Neil Wittensleger here who changed the future of two Tech companies this week by leading them through Hiring Two Mission critical roles in Engineering and Product. Both these companies are on the cusp of their next big move but the only way they're going to get there is with the Talent to contribute to their products. These hires Neil makes directly impact the future of companies at this size and scale. I watch Neil bite off these seemingly impossible tasks, expertly guide these founders through how they're going to get the best of the best and then he delivers all the way through to their Day 1 and beyond. Big week for Neil, but not out of the ordinary for him either. Startups talk about competitive edge - product features don't make up for having the best and brightest talent in the team. For Neil's clients - he is their competitive edge because he builds winning teams.

I started my career in Silicon Valley 10 years ago, it changed my life. How I did it + how you can too with The Exponential Fellowship: In 2014 I met a guy at a beach in California called Jeff Barco. Jeff had been at Apple in the early days. He had also worked for Bill Gates. I told him I'd love to move to Silicon Valley, and he and his amazing wife, to my disbelief, offered me to stay with them for 30 days to find a job. Thanks to the Barcos and a number of amazing people that helped me along the way (Jason Seeba, Steven Boone, Brad Mandell, Elena Castanon, Ezequiel Trivino, Tim D.) - I booked a flight and managed to land a job at a great startup in the valley called Bloomreach (today, a unicorn). Today, thanks to the The Exponential Fellowship, you can do this too. We're looking for 8 young individuals who are hungry to build the future. The goal is simple: to create future founders for the Spanish Tech ecosystem. If your dream is to work in Silicon Valley, this is for you. For this first batch, we are looking for the best software engineers at the beginning of their careers to offer them the opportunity to build in some of the most cutting-edge startups in Silicon Valley and New York (e.g., krea.ai, StackAI, Freepik, or Happyrobot). Our thesis is that by placing extraordinary people in extraordinary environments, we can accelerate their trajectory to build extraordinary companies. Applying is easy: - Click the link in comments below 👇 - Quick favor: tag someone you think could be a great fit below 🙏 #tech #startups #founders #spain #españa #siliconvalley

Silicon Valley is known for its unique "pay-it-forward" culture, which sets it apart from many other parts of the world. Here's a more realistic look at why this mindset thrives in the Bay Area: Abundance Mentality: With over 300,000 millionaires in the Bay Area, wealth is more common here than almost anywhere else. Living in such a prosperous environment fosters an abundance mindset—people see that there’s enough success to go around, and this belief encourages generosity and openness. Collaboration Leads to Success: Many in Silicon Valley have built their wealth through equity, whether as founders, investors, or early employees of tech startups. Collaboration is often the key to these opportunities. Success stories in the region frequently involve teams, partnerships, and collective efforts, reinforcing the value of helping others. Experience of Support: Most successful people in Silicon Valley didn’t make it on their own. They’ve received mentorship, financial backing, or critical referrals at pivotal moments. Having been on the receiving end of such support, they’re often motivated to give back to others in similar situations. Reputation Matters: In a place where fortunes can change rapidly, the importance of maintaining a good reputation can’t be overstated. Treating others with respect, even during rejections or downturns, is a wise strategy because today's junior developer could be tomorrow’s influential founder or investor. Politeness and professionalism are not just niceties—they’re investments in long-term relationships. #SiliconValley #PayItForward #AbundanceMindset #Collaboration #TechCulture #Mentorship #Networking #StartupSuccess #ReputationMatters

Dear VCs, Are you backing the right founders? Experience is overrated; hunger is underrated. The best founders aren't just those with impressive resumes, Harvard, Oxford, Standford or MIT alumni but those driven by a fierce desire to succeed and create meaningful impact despite background (sic) Look at the giants of tech. Most weren't built on experience alone, but on hunger, innovation, and a quest to change the world. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Apple's Steve Jobs, and Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin weren't seasoned entrepreneurs when they started. They were hungry, passionate, and determined. Don't overlook founders with: 1. Unrelenting passion 2. Innovative thinking 3. Real-world problems to solve 4. Resilience in the face of adversity Experience can be learned, but hunger and vision are innate. Back founders who embody these qualities. Here is a question we should ask ourselves: Who taught the original teachers? Who was the first person to teach a subject, and who taught them? The first person to have engaged that industry before it ever existed, how did they get their experience? If we can answer these questions, then we can appreciate the ECONOMY OF NEWNESS and the fact that the old was one the new. #VCBestPractices #StartupInvesting #FounderFirst #HungerOverExperience #InnovationOverExperience #VC #Founders

Exciting shift in Silicon Valley's startup landscape! A new breed of "American Dynamism" companies is emerging. They're targeting sectors like aerospace and advanced manufacturing. This trend is attracting both seasoned entrepreneurs and fresh talent. 5 key takeaways from this evolving ecosystem: 1. Redefined success metrics - Impact on national capabilities matters as much as financial returns. 2. Funding evolution - VCs are adapting their models to support longer development cycles in hard tech. 3. Talent circulation - Tech giants' layoffs are seeding these startups with experienced professionals. 4. Innovation diffusion - Silicon Valley's edge is spreading, creating opportunities across the U.S. 5. Public-private synergy - Closer alignment between startups and government priorities is opening new pathways to scale. This trend challenges the notion that all innovation must be globally-focused from day one. How might your local impact create ripples of change on a national scale?

Startups thrive on constant change, and so do their talent requirements. Yet, there's more to early talent pipeline preparation than just adaptability.   Dive into our latest blog to uncover the myriad benefits of anticipating talent needs ahead of time.   #StartupHiring #TalentPipeline #TalentPlanning #RentASourcer https://lnkd.in/dTBbJhNr

I don’t know many people who love working in tech startups right now. The allure has faded—what once promised higher pay, faster promotions, and exciting opportunities now feels uncertain and chaotic. With startups forced to do more with less, career growth is increasingly tied to unclear or unreachable metrics. I believe there is a better way: talent shifting from startups to healthy hybrid organizations, where innovative solutions can be built from the inside out. I’d like to see a new era where embedded product teams and in-house talent drive the next wave of innovation, creating environments where expertise is inherent and deeply integrated, and more importantly people can thrive.

Y Combinator is moving to Paris ! Not really... But Gustaf Alströmer 🇺🇦, General Partner at YC, was kind enough to drop by and give world class advice to french founders. After reading hackers and Painters by Paul Graham he joined the 2007 batch. He later became head of growth at Airbnb. Here's what he told us👇 1. Team > Idea “Spend a lot more time finding your team than finding your idea.” Your cofounder should balance out your extremes. Hiring in the beginning should be slow : good talent is harder to find at that stage. → Hiring too early is riskier than hiring too late. → First employees should be trusted to hire another 100. 2. Business schools aren't meant for founders Business schools often apply a top-down and rational lens on companies. But startups in the beginning are fundamentally fragile and uncertain. They are unlike any prior test you excelled at. 3. Fundraising Raising funds means you convinced an investor, not that your idea is inherently good. Correlary : not raising funds doesn’t mean your idea is bad. Don't chase external validation, chase your user's validation. Investors play a guessing game, their opinion is not always better than yours. 4. AI is not a bubble Adoption of AI signal that is it is not a fad. People didn't use VR or crypto but people really do use AI. Thus, the right answer to the "Why now?" question for tech startups should almost always be LLMs. 5. When should you apply to YC ? When you have a working demo. Europeans usually apply with ideas that are one year late... 6. How much should you price in the beginning ? $500-$1000 per month works best. $60-$100 is often too low to be sustainable. You get better insights from clients when your prices are higher. You should prioritize working with smaller companies because they allow you to iterate quickly on your offer compared to enterprise. 7. Move to San Fransisco You can't beat a bad ecosystem. It is hard enough to build a successful company, don't make it harder for arbitrary personal preferences. Everything goes faster at SF and everyone is here for the same reason. Thanks to Hexa for hosting this awesome event ! PS : At brakage we help early-stage founders raise their pre-seed/seed/series A round. The link to apply is in the first comment 💎

Here are the top three challenges that smart executives in IT startups are tackling in 2024: 1. Winning Top Talent: With fierce competition and the remote work shift, attracting and retaining the best minds requires more than good pay—it demands a culture of growth, flexibility, and innovation. 2. Mastering Tech Waves: Staying ahead of rapid tech advancements without overspending or overhauling everything is a delicate dance. Startups must innovate smartly, adopting new tech that truly adds value. 3. Scaling Smoothly: Rapid growth is exciting but risky. The challenge lies in scaling operations and customer base efficiently without compromising on quality or burning out the team.