Quitting a small start-up where you are a primary developer?

Posted by programmx10 on Programmers See other posts from Programmers or by programmx10
Published on 2011-05-26T20:50:15Z Indexed on 2011/06/30 8:30 UTC
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Just curious to hear from other people who may have been in similar situations. I work for a small startup (very small) where I am the main developer for a major part of the app they are building, the other dev they have does a different area of work than I do so couldn't take over my part. I've been with the company 5 months, or so, but I am looking at going to a more stable company soon because its just getting to be too much stress, overtime, pressure, etc for too little benefit and I miss working with other developers who can help out on a project. The guy is happy with my work and I think I've helped them get pretty far but I've realized I just don't like being this much "on the edge" as its hard to tell what the direction of the company is going to be since its so new. Also, even though I'm the main dev for the project, I would still only consider myself a mid-level dev and am selling myself as such for the new job search.

Just to add more detail, I'm not a partner or anything in the company and this was never discussed, so I just work on a W2 (with no benefits of course). I work at home so that makes it easier to leave, I guess, but I don't want to just screw the guy over but also don't want to be tied in for too long. Obviously I would plan to give 2 weeks notice at least, but should I give more? How should I bring up the subject because I know its going to be a touchy thing to bring up. Any advice is appreciated

UPDATE: Thanks everyone for posting on this, I have now just completed the process of accepting an offer with a larger company and quitting the startup. I have given 2 weeks notice and have offered to make myself available after that if needed, basically its a really small company at this point so it would only be 1 dev that I would have to deal with... anyways, it looks like it may work out well as far as me maintaining a good relationship with the founder for future work together, I made it out to be more of a personal / lifestyle issue than about their flaws / shortcomings which definitely seems to help in leaving on a good note

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