Ask HN: I am at a startup for 7 years. What's next for me?
I was the first employee hired as developer for my current startup. I have been working with them for 7 years now.<p>We have had multiple funding rounds. We grew and downsized multiple times. Had big quarters and some really shitty ones. I have survived all the ups and down. Currently I am leading the engineering team. I do have some shares but there is little chance of a big exit so I am not expecting a huge payout in the end.<p>Like any first employee I&#x27;ve wore multiple hats. From fixing stupid little bugs at midnight to setting up processes for dev, hiring, code reviews, qa etc.<p>My biggest concern here is that due to my role I am neither an expert engineer nor a good manager. I am just sitting in between focusing on whatever the company needs at the time. I feel I could be a really good resource for another startup but I don&#x27;t want to go through this grind again. And for big companies I don&#x27;t have the expertise to either pursue an engineering role or managerial role.<p>Did anyone go through a similar experience? What do you suggest my next steps should be?