I agree with you about equity, and I'd go one step further - if you're inclined to work for a startup, you're better off in almost every way being a founder rather than an early employee.
For instance, one thing people mention here is "experience" - that you gain experience working for a startup that you wouldn't get at a big company. You only might.
Ask yourself: Are you pitching investors and making contacts? Are you meeting with the lawyers to nail down legal issues? Are you negotiating office space? Setting up equity arrangements and deals? Managing PR? Getting users? Or are you mainly just handling technical issues, while those tasks are kept from you. I know a lot of managers like to say they handle the business side so that engineers can focus on the important stuff, but keep in mind, when the storm hits, you may find, as you stand in the rain and 70mph winds without roof or even an umbrella, that all you were really protected from seeing was the forecast.
I've worked at a couple of startups, and they really didn't expose me to much about running a business. They did expose me to new and interesting technical challenges, and to that extent, I did get something out of it, but certainly nothing more than I would have gotten out of working for a big name company like Google or Facebook.
Really, if your big goal is to learn how to start a startup, I doubt you'll get that by working for one as an employee, even an early one. If you want to prepare for your second startup, I doubt there's better preparation than starting your first one.
For instance, one thing people mention here is "experience" - that you gain experience working for a startup that you wouldn't get at a big company. You only might.
Ask yourself: Are you pitching investors and making contacts? Are you meeting with the lawyers to nail down legal issues? Are you negotiating office space? Setting up equity arrangements and deals? Managing PR? Getting users? Or are you mainly just handling technical issues, while those tasks are kept from you. I know a lot of managers like to say they handle the business side so that engineers can focus on the important stuff, but keep in mind, when the storm hits, you may find, as you stand in the rain and 70mph winds without roof or even an umbrella, that all you were really protected from seeing was the forecast.
I've worked at a couple of startups, and they really didn't expose me to much about running a business. They did expose me to new and interesting technical challenges, and to that extent, I did get something out of it, but certainly nothing more than I would have gotten out of working for a big name company like Google or Facebook.
Really, if your big goal is to learn how to start a startup, I doubt you'll get that by working for one as an employee, even an early one. If you want to prepare for your second startup, I doubt there's better preparation than starting your first one.