Fun : Transitioning from BigBox to Startup in 10 steps

Three short years ago, I was pushing a satellite launch of Radarsat-2, in chilly Canada (it was -20 C that day).  Accumulation of almost 5 years of hard work, starting from ground segment control, to assembling the satellite (at IKEA speed)  to that day.  Apollo 13 was no longer just a movie.  After getting the first calibrated image in under 4 days after launch, I knew my time had come to move on.  I though to myself "wow", something I did didn't end up in the reject bin.  I guess the thing was "to big" to end up in any conventional bin anyhow.


Fast forward 3 years, new country, marriage, 2 new languages latter and now I'm in startup land.  At 9 i commute to work (i.e. my den) and 5p o'clock I go on my usual gym break, and at 7 I start my hacking hour ending in a stand-up at around 11pm (11:30 Indian Standard Time). For half the year i'm on the road trying to work with the nuances of an international start-up.


Okay am not writing a self-biography, however I've been asked by former colleges how it is on the other side, i.e. going from a magical waterfall environment where gnomes stay to the frenetic world of start-up life and `scums` (sic)
 
IMHO the major adjustments:

1. Forget everything you know.  Phrases like "How we used to do things", "It was more reliable", "Things now-a-days" should be removed from you vocab.  You need to reboot yourself
2. Be willing to ask questions again.  Its fine to mention your past, but don't boast, and subtract 10 years from your age and remember your bright, wide eye-self.  Read Blogs, attend meetups and conferences, there is a lot in Silicon Valley.
3. Look at yourself in the mirror, do you frown, cringe or when  someone says, stealth, ninja, hack, sweat-equity, chief scientist or social. rockstar.  Ask your spouse to shock you if you can't stop.
4. Stop Version control-itis and robo-documentor.  Be free and easy when you do prototypes.  Its alright not to know how its all gonna work, after all you only have 3 days to get it done + presentation showing how its all going to work.
5. Avoid learning everything from basic fundamentals. Do LOTS of samples, as they say, the imitations is the greatest form of flattery.  I think 90% of my UI designs are just tweaks of existing examples.  Its alright to be a copy-cat for a bit.
6. Expose yourself on a blog.  Write some tech articles.  Don't worry followers will come, if not beg your mom, wife and neighbors dog, whoever to comment after thats how the pros do it.  
7. Do remember, all engineering is the same, taking research and technology and making it functional, by generating processes, observing risks.  The only different is nothing functions in Open Source without a little massaging; you may need to find a ninja or a rockstar to aid.
8. Submit to the the technology kludge.  Yes we were taught to mitigate risk, but remember you were doing that one shot 500mil project that could drop in someones backyard when done.  Not for a "Like this" Button, you can iterate++.  Plus nobody is going to need your software for 3 years 
9. Embrace the diversity in your field.  You'll likely be working with people around the world, with varying forms of english.  Don't worry, they are not trying to take your job... re: the big-3 auto industry in USA, if you need perspective.
10. Finally, Most of all don't make numbered lists :(.  Put links to every single word in your article, even better a tag cloudtag cloud.  Or best, inject some scare javacript into your link, nobody will notice

Disclaimer:  My transition wasn't that bad.  I had worked on mostly software, and I was did some hacks before entering the field (I'm sworn to secrecy about those...).  These view are necessarily the author of this blog, who maintains an online identify legally separated from his own.