Seriously, how do you vet a startup for "founder quality"? The entire tenor of the company can (probably will) change after the next funding round. Seen it happen, heard it happen, it clearly does happen. Steve Blank wrote it up really well.

In cases where the founder has started other companies before or the current company has been around for a while, you can (and should) ask former employees of the company how the founder and the work environment are. This saved me a ton of grief when I took my first job. A very helpful former employee told me all about the company and told me which group to join (I had some choice in the matter).

Sure, there is no guarantee this won't change, but there is no reason to believe you can't vet for founder or team quality at least initially.

And if/when the dynamic changes, quit. It is true that as an employee in a startup you don't usually have much control over how much you make from your options. But you do always have a choice - whether to continue working there or quit.

The same way you vet any employer. Find references. Talk to people. Go to LinkedIn and find 3 people who worked for the guy and ask for their opinions.

Yeah, shit happens. But what you want to vet for is what this guy experienced. Ethics, loyalty, temper, commitment, smarts, cooperation, etc. That doesn't guarantee that you won't have a bad experience, but it helps a lot.

If you go into ANY job knowing nothing about your employer/manager/leader other than what you read on their web site and heard about in the interview, you're doing yourself a disservice. Going into a startup like that is like a professional equivalent of a mail order bride.

I couldn't agree more. Actually, it doesn't even have to be funding that changes the dynamic of the team. I worked at a startup that had 3 people (2 founders and 1 employee) in 2007, and 15 by 2008. That changed everything.

And the attitude displayed at the outset does not have to stay in place as time goes forward, even without funding.

I've seen really nice people turn into absolute jerks as the success of their company went to their heads.