One giant risk is spending your formative career and life years being subject to the psychologies of young under developed founder(s), artificially granted empowerment to hire and manage employees by VC speculation.
This inexperience is a helpful pre-rec for ideating concepts and building innovative products that create massive value for the markets, but it's a crap shoot with low odds for being an effective manager: These are not people who rose through the ranks in management by demonstrating finesse in motivating groups of people into effectiveness. These types of people don't come into the company until Series B, C if ever.
Furthermore, founders are typically in hiring mode after they have secured financing - which means you only get to know them while they are not under as much pressure. Dealing with founders while they are under the additional pressure of fundraising is when the more vivid colors of personality (and harsher interactions) come out.
This inexperience is a helpful pre-rec for ideating concepts and building innovative products that create massive value for the markets, but it's a crap shoot with low odds for being an effective manager: These are not people who rose through the ranks in management by demonstrating finesse in motivating groups of people into effectiveness. These types of people don't come into the company until Series B, C if ever.
Furthermore, founders are typically in hiring mode after they have secured financing - which means you only get to know them while they are not under as much pressure. Dealing with founders while they are under the additional pressure of fundraising is when the more vivid colors of personality (and harsher interactions) come out.