sadly, founders who are hiring don't want to hear that and typically don't want to compensate fairly for the high probability that their precious offering of equity is worth zero
I think that's a simplification. The upside is that there is clearly a functioning capital market for valuing and capitalizing high growth, early stage companies where you can make a lot of money very fast. The trade off is that if you don't want the high risk part of committing to a high risk asset, you shouldn't join the company in the first place. For this reason, most people shouldn't join most startups. Some people, of course, make a career from doing this well.
For those people, there's a blend of two things:
1) you think you know something the market doesn't -- it may be something cultural, the product-market fit, maybe you're just really impressed with the people and the momentum you're seeing, maybe you have really deep expertise and insight from previous experiences with the industry
2) you just plain enjoy it more, so the high risk premium is worth it to you overall over a more boring job where with a lower ceiling on rewards and career growth but higher risk-adjusted earnings
Working at a startup is often a mixed bag: an unpredictable, fast-paced, exciting journey full of variety and autonomy, with great highs and often even greater lows.
Most people are neither looking for that nor prepared for that day to day. Others believe they are open to it, but out of a desire to find the positive parts while avoiding the negatives, are fundamentally incompatible with doing what would drive success. I've never seen these kinds of folks achieve much consistently at startups.
It's the people who lean into rather than away from the risk that are instead the ones I've seen most success. They survive the notoriously high attrition and harsh pressure to deliver in high-risk situations without playbooks. They both can scale the company and hang onto leadership roles at scale. This, again, should not be and definitionally is not most employees.
For those people, there's a blend of two things: 1) you think you know something the market doesn't -- it may be something cultural, the product-market fit, maybe you're just really impressed with the people and the momentum you're seeing, maybe you have really deep expertise and insight from previous experiences with the industry 2) you just plain enjoy it more, so the high risk premium is worth it to you overall over a more boring job where with a lower ceiling on rewards and career growth but higher risk-adjusted earnings
Working at a startup is often a mixed bag: an unpredictable, fast-paced, exciting journey full of variety and autonomy, with great highs and often even greater lows.
Most people are neither looking for that nor prepared for that day to day. Others believe they are open to it, but out of a desire to find the positive parts while avoiding the negatives, are fundamentally incompatible with doing what would drive success. I've never seen these kinds of folks achieve much consistently at startups.
It's the people who lean into rather than away from the risk that are instead the ones I've seen most success. They survive the notoriously high attrition and harsh pressure to deliver in high-risk situations without playbooks. They both can scale the company and hang onto leadership roles at scale. This, again, should not be and definitionally is not most employees.