Fun story, I worked at as employee #3 or #4 or something at a startup many years ago, and it was fun at first, trying out various product ideas and strategies and pivoting a lot. Then the first serious funding crunch came, and the founder ran out of money to pay us, so we worked for a month without compensation.
Except during this unpaid period the founder took off to Costa Rica to "work on his vacation" while we continued to work in the office with delayed pay. He came from a wealthy background, while I had a young child and a pregnant wife at home and a mortgage to pay.
So he didn't really get it, I think, when I raised a stink. I was offered more stock options and a higher title to retain me (without that title being communicated to anybody else). But a mark was put on me for my whining and my attitude and the founder's attitude toward me took a turn. He pivoted again, and I was either fired or I quit (I was already interviewing elsewhere and had an offer) depending on who you talk to.
Through some hand waving the ability to buy the options disappeared, though I couldn't be bothered.
He built that business up, and a few years later he sold for an OK sum. But the business itself was dubious, I doubt the company that acquired his business kept any talent or tech worth anything and he's now living in Costa Rica. The people I know who worked there and were there from day one certainly didn't get rich.
So yeah, that's when my attitude towards startups in general changed significantly. I used to be very interested and motivated by being early in the process in a company and getting to be technically creative and involved in the decision making and architecture, and I loved the feeling of coding like crazy and really pounding metal on something greenfield. But honestly, it's not worth it when you start to see the kinds of people and egos involved.
So I'm getting older and maybe I'm not the ultimate talent that a startup today would be looking for, but there are plenty of other people like me who've been burned in this game and their advice would most likely be: don't bother. This isn't the 80s or 90s, you're not likely to change the world tech wise, and you're unlikely to get rich out of it, and jobs at FAANGs are soul sucking boredom in many ways, but they'll treat you well.
(FWIW I went from there to a later stage 50-100 person company that was acquired by Google a year later and did OK out of that, but that was a properly managed company run by ethical human beings.)
> acquired by Google a year later and did OK out of that
What does it mean to "do OK" in an acquisition by FAANG a year after you joined? I would assume if you didn't think a liquidity event was coming soon, this would be seen as a windfall (assuming you were retained).
It certainly was not expected, so it was nice. And yes, I'm still there, 9 years on. So I've done well for myself. I'm just saying, it's not like I got rich :-) Thing is, I liked the company before Google bought it. It was just the kind of small->medium sized company I enjoy working at.
Except during this unpaid period the founder took off to Costa Rica to "work on his vacation" while we continued to work in the office with delayed pay. He came from a wealthy background, while I had a young child and a pregnant wife at home and a mortgage to pay.
So he didn't really get it, I think, when I raised a stink. I was offered more stock options and a higher title to retain me (without that title being communicated to anybody else). But a mark was put on me for my whining and my attitude and the founder's attitude toward me took a turn. He pivoted again, and I was either fired or I quit (I was already interviewing elsewhere and had an offer) depending on who you talk to.
Through some hand waving the ability to buy the options disappeared, though I couldn't be bothered.
He built that business up, and a few years later he sold for an OK sum. But the business itself was dubious, I doubt the company that acquired his business kept any talent or tech worth anything and he's now living in Costa Rica. The people I know who worked there and were there from day one certainly didn't get rich.
So yeah, that's when my attitude towards startups in general changed significantly. I used to be very interested and motivated by being early in the process in a company and getting to be technically creative and involved in the decision making and architecture, and I loved the feeling of coding like crazy and really pounding metal on something greenfield. But honestly, it's not worth it when you start to see the kinds of people and egos involved.
So I'm getting older and maybe I'm not the ultimate talent that a startup today would be looking for, but there are plenty of other people like me who've been burned in this game and their advice would most likely be: don't bother. This isn't the 80s or 90s, you're not likely to change the world tech wise, and you're unlikely to get rich out of it, and jobs at FAANGs are soul sucking boredom in many ways, but they'll treat you well.
(FWIW I went from there to a later stage 50-100 person company that was acquired by Google a year later and did OK out of that, but that was a properly managed company run by ethical human beings.)