[1290cc]

It may be a bit frustrating to read but it helped me to understand the true value of the work I was doing and what others are being compensated.

I remember my first job age 20 working for a startup that developed an early version of Twitter but designed for neighbors (this was around 2001).

I had to write drivers for a GSM module, write a server to process incoming/outgoing SMS messages, write an API into an SMS-C, build a website for users to interact and administer on. Do it all in java/linux as we had zero investment to buy anything. For all of this I was paid minimum wage (<$250/month) and had zero equity.

It was only through forums like this that I discovered how horrifically exploited I was. This was a long time ago and the founder had no business sense but was smart technically. Business shutdown after 2 years and I went onto bigger and better things. One thing I will say is that silicon valley pays better than anywhere else I've lived in the world (Asia, Africa, Europe).