This is a great essay. And I have kept more than one employee working with me at BigCo by explaining the odds of success of the expected return for being an eng

This is a great essay. And I have kept more than one employee working with me at BigCo by explaining the odds of success of the expected return for being an engineer vs a TLA at startups. It actually used to be work to make this case but now the case makes itself. And bonus you're just being honest. In one case where the person was offered a CTO spot I encouraged him to leave. The company failed and that's okay but at least it was an interesting opportunity as opposed to indentured servitude. The real dilemma is that when your ideas are revolutionary you really have to bootstrap them yourself because VC has no interest in them despite all the platitudes and happy talk. And this essay nails that very thing.