I'd add that it's entirely optional for anyone to take any job and this includes a start-up. If you want a regular job with regular hours with regular stress levels, then please, don't even bother looking at entrepreneurial employment opportunities.
But if you do, you might as well go all in and mix your salary with options, work your ass off for a couple of years, learn as much as you can, build a network, and then if it pays off, great. If it doesn't, don't have regrets that you "lost" a larger salary during that time. Be thankful for the opportunity.
Obviously some situations can unravel in a highly negative manner (the partners sell, but disavow all options, the partners fire you before paying out options to other employees, etc), but those are just normal risks in start-up land. Buyer beware.
But if I were actually in my twenties right now, I would bust my ass at a start-up, have a blast, kick-ass writing code, learn a shit ton of technology, and be grateful for the opportunity.
I think this is kind of an unrealistic view of startups that's been championed a lot. I'll concede that I only have 4 data points (4 jobs), but when I worked at a startup, my responsibilities were much more limited and defined than where I am now (200+ people, 80 IT). A lot of that was due to cycling through management styles like scrum and kanban, but this is to be expected at startups that haven't figured out what works for them yet and want to copy everyone else. I also think I've learned a lot more at my current company than at my startup where I was surrounded by "fake it to you make it" people. I value the network I've built up there more too. Before you jump into that circus, look at the middle. It's not startup or 5000 person company. There are plenty of established companies in the 50 - 300 person range that are nice places to work and to learn and pay market rates. I was able to jump into trading from there and get 2-3x market rates
But if you do, you might as well go all in and mix your salary with options, work your ass off for a couple of years, learn as much as you can, build a network, and then if it pays off, great. If it doesn't, don't have regrets that you "lost" a larger salary during that time. Be thankful for the opportunity.
Obviously some situations can unravel in a highly negative manner (the partners sell, but disavow all options, the partners fire you before paying out options to other employees, etc), but those are just normal risks in start-up land. Buyer beware.
But if I were actually in my twenties right now, I would bust my ass at a start-up, have a blast, kick-ass writing code, learn a shit ton of technology, and be grateful for the opportunity.