First, and IMO most importantly, questions you should ask yourself: - Do you believe in the business and its potential to succeed. - Do you trust and believe

First, and IMO most importantly, questions you should ask yourself: - Do you believe in the business and its potential to succeed. - Do you trust and believe in the current team and their capability to execute on a plan to succeed. - Do they have at least another full year of runway given their growth, costs, and hiring plan? If not, how likely/soon is their next fundraise/sale/capital-infusion to keep them going? - Do you fully understand the expectations and role you'll be taking on? Try to identify how you'll learn and grow from the experience. Perhaps they have senior talent that can mentor you or maybe you'll be given the opportunity to build and grow a team within the company. Maybe you'll be responsible for bringing an entirely new department/platform/etc to life from scratch. Also, the earlier the stage of the company, the more you'll likely be exposed to other aspects of the business which, in itself, offers a great experience. Most of the rest depends on the size/stage of the startup. Equity grants are determined by a combination of your role, their stage, and your negotiating ability. Salaries tend to be lower for earlier stage companies since cash is limited and valuable - discuss a plan ahead of time for a bump upon next milestone/fundraise. Recognize that at a startup, you're anchoring yourself at the salary/equity to agree to when you join - so be comfortable with the agreed upon terms. Ask friends, look on Angel List, etc. to make sure you're getting a fair deal. Good luck! Startups are exhilarating and, more often than not, they help you level-up your skills faster than most other opportunities.