[scarface74]

If your first engineer is any good, “job insecurity” is the last thing he’s worried about. In today’s environment, even a slightly above engineer can get a job within a month.

Loss of medical benefits is just another number to add to thier salary. Statistically, equity especially for an unproven idea is meaningless. It’s likely not to be worth anything.

Three years as the lead engineer at even a failed startup looks a lot better on your resume than just being a low level drone at Microsoft. You will probably also have your hands in a lot more pots making you even more valuable.

[vonmoltke]

> If your first engineer is any good, “job insecurity” is the last thing he’s worried about. In today’s environment, even a slightly above engineer can get a job within a month.

Can get a job. There is no end to the stream of recruiters offering jobs that I am overqualified for and pay well below what I currently make. The companies that can match what I have now (which, to be honest, is still lower than I could get at the Google tier) are few and far between.