Working at a startup is overrated, both financially and emotionally

Re:Working at a startup is overrated, both financially and e... by an_opabinia on Saturday May 22, 2021 @10:31AM (#27246868)

> I mean, what founders risk in terms of opportunity costs and lower wages is usually only slightly more than very early stage employees, but their reward is ~10-30x.

A first employee is, by another definition, someone to whom a professional investor would not give money.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Working at a startup is overrated, both financially and e... by hn_throwaway_99 on Saturday May 22, 2021 @10:37AM (#27246921)

You're being downvoted, but as the author of the post you responded to, I don't really disagree. I've been an early employee and have learned I don't have the temperament or skills to be a founder.

My primary argument is just that if founders and VCs don't loosen their purse strings, though, they will find employees are wising up about wealth distribution in a startup and will see they have better options elsewhere, as this article suggests.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Working at a startup is overrated, both financially and e... by an_opabinia on Saturday May 22, 2021 @12:32PM (#27248076)

> I don't have the temperament or skills to be a founder

If only everyone were as mature and introspective.

> are wising up about wealth distribution... will see they have better options elsewhere

Truthfully, all those people will discover is that the distribution of educational pedigrees - the real predictor of "better options elsewhere" - is far stickier, nepotistic and unfair than a 9 percentage point difference in equity.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Working at a startup is overrated, both financially and e... by JoeAltmaier on Saturday May 22, 2021 @12:04PM (#27247812)

But they do. They pay salaries, benefits, overhead. Its a team that gets funded.

[ Parent | on HN ]