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"Every employment position comes with some degree of risk exposure. But, the risk of "I might lose my job" is quite a lot less scary than "I might lose all my i

by st3v3r 10y ago

"Every employment position comes with some degree of risk exposure. But, the risk of "I might lose my job" is quite a lot less scary than "I might lose all my invested capital and/or be stuck with crippling debts after the company crumbles". " That doesn't happen. The company has those debts. Not the individual. "Early-stage startup employees are given greater compensation packages than later-stage employees specifically because of the greater risk of going to work for an early-stage startup." Usually not, actually. We've seen plenty of stories about early stage employees being underpaid compared to what the new guys get, and their stock compensation gets dilluted to all hell. "This isn't a very difficult thought exercise - if you believe the risk profile is greater for employees than CEOs, then why not quit your job and become a CEO of your own company?" Because I like engineering, and becoming CEO is the fastest way I know of to stop doing engineering.

eru 10y ago
> That doesn't happen. The company has those debts. Not the individual. Small company and startup loans are often secured by personal guarantees of the owners / founders.
nkurz 10y ago
That doesn't happen. The company has those debts. Not the individual. In certain industries, in certain places, this is possible. For tech businesses in the US, it might even be the norm. But it is far from universal. My food business failed 3 years ago, and despite being an LLC, I'm still personally liable for brick and mortar leases, business loans, credit card debt, unpaid taxes, and outstanding invoices from suppliers. On good days I think I might get past this and be a member of society again, but this seems far from certain. You are welcome to argue that with better risk management this would not be the case, but your blanket statement "That doesn't happen" is false and offensive.

by st3v3r 10y ago

eru 10y ago

> That doesn't happen. The company has those debts. Not the individual. Small company and startup loans are often secured by personal guarantees of the owners / founders.

nkurz 10y ago

That doesn't happen. The company has those debts. Not the individual. In certain industries, in certain places, this is possible. For tech businesses in the US, it might even be the norm. But it is far from universal. My food business failed 3 years ago, and despite being an LLC, I'm still personally liable for brick and mortar leases, business loans, credit card debt, unpaid taxes, and outstanding invoices from suppliers. On good days I think I might get past this and be a member of society again, but this seems far from certain. You are welcome to argue that with better risk management this would not be the case, but your blanket statement "That doesn't happen" is false and offensive.