Re:Working at a startup is overrated, both financially and e...
by khazhoux on Saturday May 22, 2021 @04:45PM
(#27250106)
Or this:
* Startup doesn't outright fail, but gets acquihired...
* Founders gets executive positions with bonus on top of bonus. Their resume has taken a huge leap forward, and if they stay at the acquiring company for just one year, they'll amass enough cash to take another couple of years off to try another startup.
* Employees get regular salary, and some small bonus to make it "worth it". They may as well have never done the startup, because it's an overall net-negative.
Oh, and the employees still have to individually interview at the company, and several won't make the cut.
Excellent point. And there can also be huge differences in non-monetary value that make the opportunity cost more worthwhile for founders.
If the startup fizzles, but the founders were spending most of their time getting startup founder experience, and building their professional network and personal brand, then the opportunity cost would probably be well-spent, despite the fizzle.
Of course, worthwhile experience value can definitely happen for junior non-founder ICs.
Worthwhile experience value can happen for already-experienced non-founder developers who can get experience/keyword in some very marketable thing they couldn't pick up on their own. (For example, the necessary capital expenditure means they couldn't get experience with Quantum Deep Learning Transhuman Interfacing from their kitchen table. Or they need a team of full-time collaborators to together accomplish something they couldn't do by just organizing hobbyists on an open source project.)