Risk of not being employed by big-paying corp + risk of not having that big-corp on my resume which consequence with the risk of being unemployed for 3-5 months once startup is gone + risk of working nights and w-ends because of reasons + risk of having a tiny network for my next job hunt + risk of pivot every N months + ... maybe I should really quit my startup and apply to Bezosland.

> maybe I should really quit my startup and apply to Bezosland

You should. They're constantly impressed with the quantity of their applicants that they will only reply to you if they want to hire you at all. Otherwise, you'll spend another six months waiting for an email that will never come.

Opportunity cost being the main one, and living uncomfortably. Benefits were not that great. Resources were small, which limited potential for expert help.

Risk of not earning similar to what FAANG offer.

It's not simply compensation, but the variety and flexibility of learning or working in different things, and from others.

Try doing that with a startup whose bulk of development is done overseas. No personal work connection, lack of meaningful discussion (due to time zones and cultural/philosophy barrier), no concern for your growth as an individual. You are more likely to be distant from your workers due to startups' smaller budgets discouraging the use of in-house developers.

I wish I could say otherwise, but all my startup experiences have been kind of like that. Wouldn't change it for the world, though.