[sonofjanoh]

Couldn't agree more. I feel the same and sometimes I wonder if I did the right thing joining a startup. I agree it is different when it is YOUR startup but on joining one that doesn't have time for your ideas it's pretty painful. In the evening I am shattered...can't put in the hours for my own stuff and all I do is watch it die. Biking (to save money) through the city watching the skyscrapers which housed my office once can't stop me from wondering: wouldn't it be better or easier if I would be stuck in one of those and having been paid 5 times as much for a fraction of the work I do now? I could still break the door at 5:30 and by 6 to do my own stuff relaxed...not mentioning that between the meetings at starbucks on the top floor I would be planning my work for home?

If it is your startup that is a different story I think...but I am feeling burnt out and seriously thinking on taking the easy way cause it might be more productive...less of a good story maybe but the goal is still there. And a startup is to reach it...but if it's not your startup it's someone else's tool and well said: you're just another cog.

[mattm]

Same case here. My first job was at MegaCorp but the pay was good and the hours were great. I would be home by 4:30 with lots of energy and time in the day left. I left because of the slow work pace and bureaucracy.

Then went to MediumCorp where the pay was less because I thought I would be happier with the work and would have more opportunity to contribute. I didn't really find much difference and ended up being unhappy that I was making less.

Now I'm at a new company. I have more influence over my work and no bureaucracy but I'm still trading time for money. One good thing I've learned is how fast they get products out there which has been a good lesson for me.

I've also done freelancing full-time which is better in that I get to set my own hours and work with multiple projects but it is not ideal for me.

After a few years in the workforce, I now think the smart thing to do is to find a job that pays the most amount of money for the least amount of work so that I have lots of time and energy left over for working on my own thing.

[coliveira]

There is something wrong in a profession in which to do better/more work you need to make less money...

[mattm]

In retrospect I made some poor decisions as a result of my inexperience but I agree with you. I have found that if you are more productive you are just given more to do. The X-hour work day is a horrible system for programmers that tends to lead to mediocrity over time. Unfortunately I don't have a better solution outside of starting one's own business.

[prpon]

Working for a startup taught me more of "how not to screw it up" than anything positive I saw the existing company/founders do. There were some great lessons learnt at the expense of my personal time.