And.... When the dealin&#x27; is done, you start to see that unless you&#x27;re a founder or a really close friend of the founder, you have no one to advocate for you when the chips are divvied up, and you pretty much get to take or leave the deal.<p>4 or 5 years, slaving away at a startup, weekends, nights.  And at the end of the party, you basically have zero say.  Congratulations, hope you&#x27;re best friends with the CTO.