[enjo]

I've been on both sides of this coin. Once as a founder (just over 4 years) and once as a very early employee (5 years). While I can certainly appreciate the level of commitment and hard work that those early employees put in, nothing compares to the stress level of ultimately being in charge of the thing.

The fact is, the world needs both. Early stage employees may not bear the risk, but they'll certainly bear much of the responsibility. Without smart, hard working, and extremely dedicated team members the day-to-day stress of building a company would kill me. That I can offload some of that stress to a unique set of people that make up my team... is huge.

I think they're both right. Maybe there are three types of people in the world? Founders, doers, and all the rest?

[satishmreddy]

"Early stage employees may not bear the risk, but they'll certainly bear much of the responsibility."

That nails it.