[Richard_East]

This is why ex-startup-founder product managers are so in-demand if they ever go back as employees. Releasing your own software to the market, even with the help of a small team, demands a level of design finesse which is difficult to realise in a big corporation. The results in terms of customer feedback, market fit, product functionality are also easy to evaluate for hirers compared to NDAd or vague prior work experience.

Markets are not fair or uninfluenced by luck, and not every product or startup will succeed financially or provide the lifestyle the founder desires. But I've found that ex-founders make excellent picks as employees since they have the ability to work seamlessly across an organisation, particularly with software devs, and understand fundamentally which product features and developmental changes are worthwhile pursuing.