A REALISTIC Day of Working At A START-UP as a Software Engineer

A look into my life and career working for start-ups as a software engineer. I started my career working for start-ups and I'll probably keep doing it until I make my own. I drop some bits of knowledge on this one. Enjoy!
------------------------
The Dummy Store MERCH - bit.ly/dummystore
------------------------
Personal Instagram - bit.ly/larrysimiyuinsta
DummyCodes Instagram - bit.ly/dummycodes
Discord - / discord

[@duskshadow25]

Go to a small company if you want to learn a lot, because your title end up meaning nothing, as you wear many hats. Go to a big company that's already established if you want to not have as much work and do specific tasks everyday instead. For example, if you want to learn about other tech topics, big company usually won't let you try and screw up their systems at your disposal at all, let alone touch them. They have to go to several approvals before you can even touch anything that's not assigned to your task. But if you were to go to a small company, you can try and do whatever, as long as you're not setting their devices on fire.

[@ZZPiranhaZZ]

I'd say this is accurate but there are exceptions to this and if you're appropriately questioning potential teams in interviews I think you'll see that some teams are leaner than others. Often a team which has both types of tasks is good because you can context switch between deep work and BAU depending on what your day is like

[@BlankFaceAma]

You can also get the "learn a lot" effect by joining a small team at a larger company but you are 100% right that larger, older companies tend to have so many restrictions that you get pigeonholed.

[@luisdotespinal]

"Go to a big company that's already established if you want to not have as much work and do specific tasks everyday instead. " That's a gross generalization.

[@HoangNguyen-jd2mr]

Lack of mentorship compare to big company. Also lack of networking.

[@riskz3963]

As a black young junior developer, You motivate people like me every day and remind us that WE BELONG in this tech industry you definitely just gained another supporter

[@shrfu31]

Keep pushing. Don’t get discouraged.

[@dayanallamatti7176]

Facts !!!

[@SonAyoD]

Facts! Facts! facts!

[@mishalhaneef3723]

Wtf is a black developer? New tech???

[@riskz3963]

@@mishalhaneef3723keep your childish comments to yourself...… what's a black developer? I'm sure you can answer that yourself if you use a little common sense

[@dixztube]

Living this life building on a project for over 2 years. Finishing today. Almost brings tears to my eyes it’s been such a journey

[@samarthnagar1516]

what is it

[@troythompson2]

So happy for you man! I knew you would bounce back and am proud of you for doing your thing.

[@perryetienne5377]

It's good to see you thriving!! Thanks, for sharing your videos!

[@MysteriousStranger08]

I love how casual your videos are and its great seeing you back. 2 yrs ago during the pandemic I discovered your videos and it motivated me to transition to a tech career, so I spent a year learning to code, quit my job and took the risk to get a dev job. Tonnes of weird turn of events and breakdown happened, I ended up going from front end internship to automation testing and now to a devOps role. Much appreciate your videos.

[@cjtantay]

Nice Larry. It's good to see you doing well, in a good headspace, and surrounded by good people. You definitely had a journey lmao. I switched jobs recently and now work at a startup. I feel like I found where I belong, but I think starting my career in an established company helped me see what good processes and good code looks like. Adding well tested features to legacy code in my old job helped me contribute even on my first day. Startups are legit.

[@dummycodes]

the GOD programmer CJ. Definitely appreciate your perspective on this. Hope you're doing well yourself!

[@pablitocodes]

Glad to see you are still working as a dev. Personally, I stay away from startups now. I've had waaay too many startups that couldn't pay, wouldn't pay, or just paid waay to late.

[@alvintan4900]

i love the humor you got with ya friends. this is definitely very unique and original content. keep up the creativity and authenticity. i would love to see more videos :D

[@dummycodes]

thank you Alvin, Im trying!

[@TheHy6xD]

Great video! It's like I am hanging out with my friend that explains everything I wanted to know, even tho I sit at home and don't go out. Really glad to find your channel.

[@ricardomckenzie5568]

Love the vibes g. Keep doing your thing.

[@Insectist]

Huge fan from the Livin Like Black Larry days! Glad to see you finding the desired success you've worked hard for! I too am on my path to being sucessful (not in coding tho). Its freeing doing something you love and for YOU even if those around you think otherwise. Much love brother

[@powerademonke]

I love the realistic approach to these "day in a life" videos. I've been an engineer for a little over 4 years and have worked at both startups and larger companies and you hit the nail on the head. Hella people be doing these "day in a life" videos where it starts with making their bed, making some insane breakfast or even going into the office where a majority of the clips are of them grabbing snacks or doing something non-code related. I'm sure there are plenty of people whos days are like that but I doubt it's like that for everyone. Those types of videos can be somewhat damaging for people wanting to get into tech because it sort of paints an unrealistic picture of what the job is like. Aside from that, I wanted to give my opinion on the startup vs large companies or FAANG topic. I joined my current job in the startup stage so around 80-90 employees. The work at that time was difficult but so much fun because you had a lot of impact and there wasn't a lot of red tape and politics involved to get stuff done. Now that we've been acquired by Block (Square), things have changed dramatically in both good and bad ways. The good was having a more consistent worklife balance and also having access to mentors who can help you grow and get you to the level/title you're seeking. The downside to this was that company culture changed drastically and a lot more politics came into play. It's harder to ship products and when you do it's under these insane product requirements and timelines. Personally, I miss the startup life and am looking to switch back into it soon.

[@eiprofesoi]

I love how straight up real you are, keep it up

[@NaqeebAl]

Great video man! Well edited, great pointers and enjoyed watching it as an early dev myself. Thank you!

[@ElPapelMan]

Been following you for a minute and I really enjoy your content, keep going bruh

[@livetowin-pj7yl]

First two minutes into the video and I fell in love on how you speak and the realistic part of it. I felt sincerity. Thanks man

[@andrewperez8488]

Man I feel like I started with you at the bottom. Got my start soon after yours, and your super chill/self deprecating personality gave me motivation boosts when it was needed! Good to see it all pay off, the home contrast between your earlier videos and what it is currently does the talking.

[@170insane]

Good to see your progressing and killing it brother! Looking forward to more content!! 🎉🎉🎉🚀

[@dummycodes]

appreciate you :) shooting for twice a week so we will see aha

[@RABB3DB3AST13]

I agree with start ups not having a lot of support for Juniors. I went into my first position after teaching myself to build a full stack application and mobile app. we had a lot to work through and the backing and communication was lacking but going through that fire for 2.5 years taught me so much that got me to where I am now.

[@drereactions1240]

Just found your channel, loved the energy and delivery 🚚 post notifications on 💯 keep it up 👍🏾

[@codewithguillaume]

Hello my friend. Great video. We almost got exactly the same life but I try my best to not only code - but also to share my knowledge through videos or posts, writing and creating products for me ! So that was very interesting.

[@rkulla]

Kudos for making sure to stretch frequently! A critical yet often overlooked thing by many software engineers that pays dividends in ability to stay motivated for years to come.

[@gmt8336]

I was among this guy's first subscribers, bro's really leveled up. Mad respect !!!!!

[@loftonjones3418]

Electrical Engineering major about to graduate here and moving out of state for work! First video I’ve seen of yours and it’s great! the sense of humor is on point

[@dummycodes]

Thank you Lofton! Trying to mix up the videos energy so I appreciate you noticing :)

[@insummary3328]

KEEP THESE VLOGS COMING. You're naturally hilarious, and very wise, as every great comedian is. Love it.

[@chiandet]

Haven't seen you since you were at your moms! So happy for you man, really truly happy for you.

[@dummycodes]

Thank you Aaron!

[@godsendjoseph5288]

Dude I have been waiting for your content 😂😂😂… welcome back

[@dummycodes]

THANK YOUU JOSEPH :)))

[@buschbiene1402]

This video showed up on my timeline and I really enjoyed watching it. You seem like a super cool and funny person, I will definitely watch more of your videos. Its also super interesting to see how different jobs are in other countries. Greetings from germany!

[@monkeybuttgolfer]

Great video. Love the casual feel to it and you're great conversationalist! Keep it up :)

[@cmdv42]

Always Vibes 💯✨ Awesome & inspiring to see the growth from when you started ✌😎

[@MrJFigueroa]

This video was dope!👌🏾

[@mike-yk4yk]

Your voice is so comforting, subscribed!

[@dummycodes]

Thanks for subbing! Welcome :)

[@devippo]

I love the cleaning while explaining. Great info! New Sub!

[@OLISAxo]

This is such an easy video to watch, great info

[@biaocoelho]

Love the office! Congrats!

[@0dyss3us51]

Haha then there is me doing 10-12 hours days for months now starting my own project. But I absolutely love it and have never learned more faster than I do now. Always know your personal limits and catch breaks whenever. Great vid man take it easy haha.

[@jesussandoval4969]

This video was so relevant bro, also HILARIOUS when talking to Bethany and your other team members!

[@JMRP04]

Boy is on fire with the videos!! 🔥 I like this Season 🍿😂

[@dummycodes]

appreciate youuu!

[@Blafard666]

He be back ! So happy to see you back in such great form mentaly and everything ... Now that you back you should take on another challenge and make it a series, like get swole or something ! 😁 (I would watch that)

[@dummycodes]

Haha oh those are coming, just trying to figure out the story telling part :)

[@Monray87]

love your vlogs bro, keep them coming, from South Africa

[@dummycodes]

appreciate it Chad! thank you!

[@SonAyoD]

My man, keep representing brother!

[@tennsummer]

gone far bro, respect

[@AdamLeee]

Junior dev here working for a startup...well now a borderline not startup but anyway. What you said about impact is super true. My changes sometimes go live to production within 2 days. Also the work is quite a bit more challenging I think for that reason. I enjoy the vibe of startups better, less overhead. I'm the type of person that likes to just get stuff done, and as a remote engineer for a startup I pretty much never have anyone looking over me, which is great. But for people that arent very self motivated that might not be the best idea.

[@laas29]

nice format using the broom

[@davisward3144]

Enjoyed the video!

[@dummycodes]

thank you Davis!

[@MilanRodd]

Amazing real day video bro

[@CaptTragedy]

Love the seinfeld reference! Very informative, thanks Dummy!

[@dummycodes]

Glad you liked it!

[@CaptTragedy]

@@dummycodes only us millennials get it!

[@Quickb3n]

I'm 26, self-taught, 6 months into my first junior dev job at a start-up. It's actually a pretty good experience, they're a few years old but still going through rounds of funding so perhaps not a true start-up but it's a small company of around 20-25 people total. I get good support from the other 4 devs and work hours are pretty standard flexible 8 hour days. There are definitely good start-ups out there. Also, the bed thing is accurate. Maybe it's just our generation ? 😅

[@bordzra4255]

12:24 best advice ever thank you bro, everyone wants something different out of this life.

[@fauxz3782]

Damn... I remember you from years ago, good to see you're doing well

[@seansmith5218]

“Usually for breakfast, I don’t eat breakfast” 😂 I was hoping for a jump cut to the next scene after that

[@connorcook2763]

You're funny bro. Love to see the character coming through.

[@chibaby]

First 60 seconds of this video was chef kisses. Definitely subscribing

[@melezmb]

Bro! you're constantly saying everything I need to hear. Got my Associates in Software Development in May, and have no clue what's going on RN lol

[@AdityaSingh-dg7pr]

ngl, I work in a start up right now. I definitely learned quite a lot in a short amount of time. I do a lot of coding as the developer, but every startup goes through a phase or research. Now the funny thing is that before this, I got the feel of work done only when I wrote some code, added a new feature or solved a bug. But now I am more indulged into the research work for the company which takes a LONG time to get some good traction or results to work on. I have to change the metric of what I consider as work done, I am doing less coding now and more searching, coding is done by interns. So I was just getting a feel that I am not getting work done because I didn't code today. So working on a startup for me is like, you have to change the metric using which you say that I did some work today, or something like that. Hope readers got the message 😂

[@ladyintrovert9096]

I’m about to go to bootcamp! Love seeing content like this!

[@rockababy]

what bootcamp are you doing?

[@dummycodes]

Let me know how it goes! If you need help with anything DM me or ask on the discord. Having a community while learning is definitely key :)

[@ladyintrovert9096]

@@dummycodes omg thanks so much I appreciate it!

[@ladyintrovert9096]

@@rockababy Fullstack academy

[@LuisMedina-yq5fd]

I'm also currently in a bootcamp from my local college Full-Stack

[@viarnay]

Your apartment is so neat dude I love it 😊🥰😊

[@dummycodes]

Thank you! Apartment tour definitely coming soon :)

[@nextDoor_dude]

I just like this dude! 😁

[@JeremiahPeoples]

Another one????

[@JeremiahPeoples]

Let’s gooo

[@dummycodes]

AHAHA Im coming back bayybee!!

[@brianruizy]

Love the humor in your videos😂. Hello from a fellow KZbinr/SWE! 👋

[@dummycodes]

Ayy thank you Brian! I was watching your videos before shooting another one of these! Keep goinggg

[@kvncnls]

Broooo!! Fking congrats man! Great to see you doing so well! Also, I'm 99% sure one of my friends lives in your building. He literally had the same view out your window AND it was raining. 😂

[@dummycodes]

ahahah DM me so I can go knock on his door and say Kevin sent me. ahah

[@besm_a]

ouh dude u'r so funny just discovered ur channel Love it

[@adams.6911]

Just hit subscribe! You're hilarious and very good content 👌. I'm an IT Engineer looking to make a switch into a Software Engineer.

[@naturallymemarie9650]

The playful banter between you and your friends is hilarious 😂

[@schan263]

I was happy to get my first job at the startup.

[@hello_dayana]

yes so much fear about working at start ups during school! it’s not that bad, every start up is different! it’s important to meet the founder/founders, they set the tone of how the culture is there. one time i talked to a founder who seemed so stressed and negative, i did not want to work there for sure

[@raventhorX]

totally agree with the whole breakfast thing even though I usually eat what would be considered large for most people. Not a good idea to eat a huge meal for breakfast but still a bad idea to skip breakfast.

[@DevlogBill]

Cool video 😂, found it entertaining. What tech stacks do you find yourself using mostly? Is it Mern? PHP? Go? Couldn’t be Rust. Curious cause I am learning JavaScript now React and I am front NYC so I am interested in hearing about your experiences. Would be cool to make a video on the tech you’ve been using on some of these companies, thanks man.

[@UltimateKeyboardHero]

I'm transitioning from random sales/ customer service jobs into IT. But I can tell you it's definitely not the same when it comes to startups in different parts of the globe. I was super happy (still am) that I landed my first job in IT with no qualifications or certificates, just self-taught, and now I'm a DevOps engineer with about 1.5 years of experience. However, when I started I started to work for $400 per year, and now I make about $5000 per year! It is an improvement, but startups here usually go for those pay grades since it's just cheap labour for the Western parts of the world. The experience I've gained and the pace I've learned is ridiculous though. Spinning up my environments, handling microservices and automating the crap out of everything. 😄

[@dayanallamatti7176]

I like this video a lot, coz he's being so honest, most guys claim to work at Facebook and Microsoft. I love the fact that he is down to earth 👍

[@dummycodes]

I really appreciate the feedback!

[@DavidBieschke]

The most talkative dev I've ever seen

[@a.c.130]

Im not a SoftDev but I am in CybSec and im still encouraged by this. We definitely need more black and brown in tech. We can do this easy without going the traditional route of college. As I couldnt afford college having to work and pay for everything at a young age.

[@melomanzer5508]

100% Facts, i've been working for 3 years for startups, It's a nightmare

[@dixztube]

Dude! Try 3 bananas, peanut butter powder, unsweetened cocoa and almond milk. Liquid stevia. Then place pecans in them. It’s SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good. SOOOO GOOOD

[@sotacan]

Larry, you still owe me a shout out 🤣

[@christophergaynor927]

I just found you. startups seem fun, I need some of that energy!

[@dummycodes]

ahah it can seem fun but definitely are some hectic days

[@christophergaynor927]

@@dummycodes oh i bet!

[@UziTekk]

Algorithm blessed me with some new fire content. I'm spring developer and I'm trying to get like you my guy :D.

[@dummycodes]

oh you will get like me, give it some time aha

[@iolss]

Man, you're hilarious! :D

[@lucydelaluna]

great character

[@gasnotgas8094]

🔥🔥

[@yuliaweiss9394]

Can you align on the salary differences between startups and established tech companies?

[@hi.in.m8808]

How was your stand ups? Meaning were there times where you didn't accomplish your objective from the previous day? What was the response if that was the case? I just finished my bootcamp in the beginning of July.

[@elliottwalsh94]

The Seinfeld theme song cracked me up!

[@christiannnaylor]

Back to back… we’re so lucky

[@dummycodes]

nehoy, mehoy?

[@nickpappas6109]

What monitor speakers are those?

[@techandstream]

Everyday I will watch your video(s)

[@mitotv6376]

I am still pushing my learning.. i need laptop to start the coding experience

[@sammavrs]

you said in the video that you ended up stuck on something. if you end up at a start up how would you handle something like that? thats my biggest fear of working at startups. i have no senior to fall back on.

[@phostings]

I just got my first offer to work full time as a software engineer today. I'm just so excited, but I'm a little worried how this new flow of income might change my perspective on others. I want to have nice things but I don't want to be label as what others see as high income individuals. So I'm hestant of what to say when someone asks me what I do for a living. I guess I will figure it out once I start my new career next year.

[@dummycodes]

Enjoy yourself and don’t be mean to others or worry about perception no matter what money you make

[@greeffer]

This dude is hilarious.

[@MyNameIsTX]

@Dummy Codes -- Current full-time Computer Science student self teaching myself front end development. Is it possible to work in the technology field while being a full-time student. Will startups be better for students? I am looking for a software dev job so I can work from home and have an easier time getting my school assignments done.

[@menassies3224]

Honestly we are very similar abd it's freaking me out literally

[@femiftw]

what mic do u have attached to your shirt 😊

[@richardo1361]

Nothing's called such a realistic day for engineers 😮‍💨

[@talentsherpa]

I still don’t know how to reach one

[@abed839]

hi from kenya

[@patrickkhwela8824]

My first Job was at a startup. Ill never do that ever again.

[@kobibr9362]

wait Larry?

[@nicholascherry5962]

Awesome video Homie! Get a cleaner almond milk tho, lmao. That stuff is full of additives.

[@dummycodes]

any suggestions?

[@nicholascherry5962]

@@dummycodes Three trees, Malk, Elmhurst: 3 options. It should only have 2 ingredients. Water & Almonds.