What does that have to do with startups? My first job out of college was a very similar experience to yours yet the company was fairly large. (~2,000 employees)

What does that have to do with startups? My first job out of college was a very similar experience to yours yet the company was fairly large. (~2,000 employees) By the time I left I was the lead developer of one of the many projects I worked on during those years. I think a larger company is probably more likely to have an established mentorship program in place for he engineers rather than a startup. I also needed to take three months of disability and I received 100% of my pay during those three months (and even kept accruing PTO) because my established company provided me with short term (and long term) disability insurance.