For a financial and work-life balance perspective: Personally, I'd will never work for early stage startups again. The risk vs reward is extremely unfair, with

For a financial and work-life balance perspective: Personally, I'd will never work for early stage startups again. The risk vs reward is extremely unfair, with co-founders and investors eating most of the pie. Late-stage startups near IPO / exits (usually 6-10 years after founding) might be worth it, b/c equity will 2x quickly. But often those deals tend to still pay less than big tech after the 2x. If you really want to work at an early stage, start your own.