Are you sure you want to work for a startup? In my experience, working at a startup is good for one thing: learning how to manage a bunch of random stuff all ha

Are you sure you want to work for a startup? In my experience, working at a startup is good for one thing: learning how to manage a bunch of random stuff all happening at the same time. You don't get paid as well as if you just worked at google or yahoo, and as an employee, your stake is usually something like .25-.75% of the company, which means if the place gets bought for 100M, you'll make out with about $120K extra, 4 years down the road. $120K isn't anything to scoff at, but keep in mind that startups pay a lower salary, and if you scored a job at yahoo for $90K instead of $60K at the startup, after 4 years you'd have the same amount of money. Now, if you can swing a deal where you get 10% of the company, I'd go for it. But with a percentage like that, you're gonna be employee 3, co-founding, not just "have a job at a startup."