[ootachi]

Square sounds like a terrible place to work, then. We should stop giving startups free passes for demanding ridiculous hours out of employees in the name of equity, when they usually end up screwing their employees out of it anyway.

[jof]

I think startup politics generally reflects the power structure surrounding it; whether that be founders or investors that hold a relatively big stake in an organization, or the society surrounding it. The US is not always the most meritocratic or egalitarian environment, and it seems that those that latch onto or come into some power tend to hold to it very tightly and don't share with those around them.

Equity, unless you're very lucky or diligent, often doesn't equate to much. I think, too often, folks tend to place too much emphasis on equity. The terms and value of which are not often immediately obvious to the recipient and can get diluted over time. Twitter's on what... round G now?

Ultimately, starting a startup is a big uphill slog. At the end of the day, everyone needs to put in some level of herculean effort from time to time if it's going to work.

The trick is figuring out how to effectively value the things that each contributor is best at. If you're working in an organization that primarily values software engineers, it can be hard to get recognition as a visual designer.

In an organization that primarily (and sometimes only) values and recognizes software engineers that make things you can see or touch, it can even be hard to make it as a systems plumber or kernel hacker.