I think this is the main issue. Hard for them to get enthusiastic with yet another project without clearly defined deliverables and lack of leadership.

Wouldn't this be a chance where an experienced employee would be able to use their skills and experience to help define and lead it?

Every project starts without clearly defined deliverables and a lack of leadership, but hopefully they don't stay that way.

"Wouldn't this be a chance where an experienced employee would be able to use their skills and experience"

Yes, in theory. However, particularly in the case of startups, many of which are led by smart but relatively inexperienced founders, those founders may not have the wisdom or humility to listen to the "grey hairs" who actually have seen the potential failure mode before.

A 24-yr-old CTO may have trouble leading a 55-yr-old software developer who's been coding since before the CTO was born.

Not all, of course, but far from 0%.

Yes it would, but a lot of managers and business leaders don't want that. They want you to do what they say, and also frequently how.

We are also much less likely to want to work 60+ hour weeks. We have kids and have already realized that work is not the most important thing.

I think I can count on my fingers how many times I've created something really good after the 50 hour mark for the week.

What I can't count is the number of times I thought I was creating something really good after the 50 hour mark. The thing is I track outcomes for quite a while, and the math starts to stack up over time, and I just opt out now.

If you're planning to work for a place more than three years, you're going to end up being the one who ends up paying for the bad ideas, whether you can connect the dots or not. You can keep almost anything working for 15-18 months, beyond that the wheels want to come off.

So don't bullshit them.

Source: Am management.