Ask HN: Leave new job after one month?

Basically I have to build the product, do all devops work, mentor the team to make sure their work is up to scratch and manage the boss.

What you ask from them:

I just want to do technical work and solve problems for as long as possible.

What they need:

I think the company needs someone who is looking to move into a CTO role and comfortable with managing developers and business expectations.

Would it be fair for me to give notice now and leave?

Its not about being fair. Its about being human. You are not a robot. This is a mammoth task and the risk of burnout is very high. Your health is more valuable than any job.

Would I be passing up a great opportunity to learn?

A good learning opportunity does not come with such price of admission.

But what do I know?

I went through the same exact scenario (even using Django) and lost a great deal of time doing so. Life is too short. Better opportunities exist out there. Good luck!

Ultimately it's the responsibility of the company to provide a challenging, nurturing, stable, health-promoting, etc, environment. If they fall short, then it's your career, health, and sanity which are as stake -- so really you shouldn't think twice about the possible negative impact on their side, and certainly not about "letting them down" personally. If anything you'd be doing them a favor by quitting after 1-2 months (if you can afford it) rather than 6-9, by which point they would have made a far greater investment in you.

All that's required on your side is to be tactful. There've been many posts here about "how to quit my job", but ultimately it comes down to this: don't fuss about preparing some lengthy explanation (or worse, a lengthy resignation letter). At the time you resign, you don't have to say anything up front -- but you should be prepared to give just one simple reason, easy to digest (like a tweet). In your case it could simply be, "I'm sorry, but the role just didn't meet my expectations -- there turned out to be just way more chaos to deal with than I had bargained for. So it seems the most ethical thing, for you as well as for me, is to resign sooner rather than later."

That's pretty much all you have to do. If they press for detail, you can give more detail -- if you want. But the important thing is to not assault them with detail up front (and only provide it if they specifically ask) -- no matter how well-merited the roots of your frustration are, it just makes you look bitter and disgruntled.

Would I be passing up a great opportunity to learn?

Any experience can be a "learning experience" -- even a negative experience. But it sounds like you have more important things to learn about then how to deal with dysfunctional teams and politically tricky environments.

In sum it sounds like this is definitely on occasion to trust your gut (as soon as you can afford it financially), stick to your guns and do the right thing -- for them, ultimately, as well as for yourself.

Three thoughts:

1) The owner/"CTO" is going to create extra stress for you regardless what working relationship you develop. He's not going to get better about this.

2) Just because the company needs someone to be the CTO doesn't mean that it's C-suite/board know that. Without explicit communication about trajectory you can find yourself doing a CTO's job without the recognition, respect, or salary.

3) There's no foul in walking away from something bad for you. It's hard to do when you're used to completing what you start, but every once in a while it's the better decision.

It wasn't the best feeling to do so, but it was the right decision for me. I didn't put it on my resume, but I mentioned it in subsequent interviews.

Who knows, maybe they trust and respect you enough to make the right changes and you'll end up loving it there.

All relationships (including professional ones) build; they never start at that perfect place.

However difficult that turns out to be for the owner and the team, it may be be the best for everyone involved. You can mitigate this by helping steer hiring of the new developer as you seem to have a unique insight in to their needs.

It doesn't sound like you are planning to make management part of your career path, so I don't think you are passing on much.

You don't need a justification. Just leave.