Working at a startup is overrated, both financially and emotionally
This article is responding to the romantic version of the startup story that was popular 10-15 years ago, in the early heyday of YC and HN. In that sense it is 10 years out of date.<p>There has been since at least one major wave, which was characterized by disillusionment and cynicism about startups (&quot;just buy a lottery ticket&quot;, &quot;startup equity isn&#x27;t worth the paper it&#x27;s printed on&quot;, etc.). This became standard fare on HN and until recently was probably the dominant view.<p>That has become old hat in its own right—you can tell that such a wave is in its later stages when the comments become predictable, and then compensate for that by getting snarkier. When information gets worn out through repetition, comments have to add in extra spice to get interesting again—though not necessarily the good form of &#x27;interesting&#x27;.<p>It&#x27;s too soon to tell but I think we might be at the beginning of another wave now—a more balanced weighing of pros and cons. Many comments in this thread are good examples of that.<p>There&#x27;s another dynamic too, which I&#x27;ve not yet seen anyone comment on: these waves are staggered geographically. This became obvious to me when looking at the geography of HN comments (judging by IP geolocation). These waves don&#x27;t get started and then subside in lockstep all over the world—rather, they exist in different stages in different locations. It took years for the romantic story to make its way to certain locations, and those places are now in the early stages of the cynical wave. Other parts of the world are still in the crest of the romantic phase. This creates unfortunate misunderstandings where someone in one of those areas posts an enthusiastic startup story, of the kind that was popular on HN in say 2008, and then gets blasted with flames by people in locations where the cynical wave is strong.<p>I hope I&#x27;m guessing correctly that the next wave is more balanced and nuanced, because I think we need to look beyond &quot;startups: yay or nay&quot; to asking when they make sense, when they don&#x27;t, and what changes the ecosystem could make to make them make more sense...if that makes sense.