I don’t think the point about making more money in industry is particularly compelling. I feel like I would be mostly losing opportunity cost and would be pretty confident I could get at least as good a job, if not better, with the lost experience. Further, in what way is joining an early stage startup financially advantageous to being a founder? The only benefit is it being easier to walk away, but the upside is greatly reduced, and the worst case is not much better (perhaps a higher salary).

I also don’t really agree with the point that being an employee engineer can be just as ambitious as being a founder. You can do great things as an engineer but you won’t capture even close to all of its value, and for better or worse will likely not get as much recognition or influence for it either.

There is nothing wrong with not wanting to start a company, and maybe there are people who feel compelled to do it for the wrong reasons. It seems to really boil down to risk tolerance and whether you would actually be comfortable running a business