[sssilver]

So you get a job at a decent startup that actually has viable potential (likely not), get 1% equity (likely half that, since you said you're not an expert), work super hard effectively two full time jobs hardly making ends meet, and then your startup beats all odds (likely doesn't), and gets acquired for 20 million dollars (likely less).

You've just made $200,000 before taxes. Was it worth the risk and the effort?

Correct me if I've got my assumptions wrong please. Chance to unicorn doesn't count, coz at that level of probability he might as well just keep buying the lottery.

[buffoon]

Yep that ain't likely to work. For every success story there are 99 failures.

Get a popular cert. Work premium contract jobs (£600/day here). Screw the market hard and retire after 20 years with some reasonable cash. Sure you're not going to be Musk or Zuck rich but how much money do you really need?

Take equity if someone offers it but not in lieu of hard cash. I've made about £20k in equity pay outs which isn't a whole lot of money really.

I know no one who got anywhere working hard. It was all sly opportunistic stuff and luck.

[puranjay]

It's practical and you'll be right 8 times out of 10. But it also assumes that the only motivation for starting a company is money.

I'm running a startup that solves a very real problem lots of people have. The money is a nice bonus, but the real thrill is being able to solve a problem.

If you have an engineering brain, you know this as well: solving a problem just feels good. Doesn't matter whether the problem is fixing a broken faucet or helping people manage car repairs better (what I'm trying to do).

So for me, the real benefit of running a startup is that you get to solve a problem you care passionately about. If you can do that at someone else's company (and get paid handsomely for it), then by all means, go ahead and do it. But if you can't find companies solving the problems you care about, then you have no option but to roll up the sleeves and solve it yourself

[buffoon]

You're right. That's the thing though; don't expect to make any money out of doing anything you love. The phrase "labour of love" is very appropriate.

Currently I'm digging a large financial company out of a big hole full of poo that they dug and then tried to swim in and decided that they didn't like it. If I'm honest, I really don't care about that but it pays the bills. I prefer fixing and replacing bits of my friend's Macs for nothing and playing BOFH on all the kit in my house.

[RankingMember]

Puranjay, sorry for off-topic, but your startup idea intrigues me. Let me know if you have a website or something I can look at. Thanks.

[e-mail]

[brobinson]

I'm about -$15,000 after three startup acquisitions (cost of buying stock options when I was laid off/quit).

[osullivj]

A delightfully cynical take on it all. I have to agree!

[buffoon]

I burned two startups first so consider it experience :)

[wyclif]

What do you use to find out which certs are popular?

[mattlutze]

Two thoughts:

1. Look at places like Stack Exchange to see which sub-fields are getting a lot of questions.

2. Look at tech jobs listing sites and see what they're including on their nice to have / must have lists in their listings.

[argonaut]

Err. Keep in mind the OP is from Colombia, is interested in entrepreneurship, and has big dreams. And s/he is probably young. Can we all leave the cynicism for later in life? If you think someone's dreams are a mistake, let them try and fail.