(Updated 2023/7/09)
People sometimes ask me for career advice in software startups. For a long time I didn't know what to say. When I finally noticed a pattern in my career, it was like a blinding light.
Now I know the single most important thing to advise:
Make sure the logo is orange.
Seriously. Do you really want to work for one of those (ugh) blue logo companies??
Here's my employment history since 2007, in logos and RGB codes:
OpenPlans (2007-2012) #FF8B38
Bitly (2012-2013) #EE6123
Percolate (2013-2017) #F16421
Handshake (2017-2019) #FF5800
Now you know the secret.
Use this information wisely. Go forth and prosper!
But what about before 2007?
I used to work for Revolution Health Group. Their logo was not orange. Things were bad on the ground by the time I left, and very soon thereafter got worse and worse before ending with a whimper.
Before RHG I worked at CTI Molecular Imaging, who had at least one logo with some orange in it, which may account for their billion-dollar acquisition by Siemens.
Before that I was at a tiny startup, CalendarGalaxy, which never really launched. No orange!
But what about after 2019? What happened to those companies? What'd you do after Handshake? Does any of it cast doubt on this theory?
Ssssshhh.