You are right that there is certainly a lot of luck involved, but there are many things you can do to improve your odds. Interestingly, the kind of factors that

You are right that there is certainly a lot of luck involved, but there are many things you can do to improve your odds. Interestingly, the kind of factors that matter are often counter-intuitive to engineers, so engineers are probably disadvantaged when trying to pick a good early stage startup. Some things to pay attention to: 1. funding and ability to attract substantial funding from top-tier firms... it's not a guarantee, but it improves your odds 2. CEO who values engineering quality and culture: again, it is possible to be successful without it, but it's far less likely 3. business-minded, focused founders 4. good market for venture-backed companies with potential for multiple paths to success