Here is a fact that will hold true no matter where you are working and whether it is the smallest, most promising little startup or the biggest governmental beh

Here is a fact that will hold true no matter where you are working and whether it is the smallest, most promising little startup or the biggest governmental behemoth, whether you are just a low-level code grunt or the CxO: Do not ever put yourself in a situation where you are blindly giving and bleeding into projects or the company because the chances are oh-so-incredibly promising and you blindly threw all caution and personal limits overboard. No matter how awesome the chances, you need to know where your limits are, whether they are financial or personal and you need to know what you are getting out of it right this moment. Not all "compensation" is exclusively monetary. There are a lot of other things you could be getting out of it. But think of it as investing your time, energy and resources and ask yourself what really are the things you are getting in return? This is not charity, this is work - no matter how much passion is involved. (And even people working in charity get some very real returns; they are by no means all altruistic.) Yes, people WILL lie to you (for their own advantage) and they'll give you lots of brave talk to get you to hold on, so see it for what it is and do not let it affect or cloud your judgement. Whatever it is, you need to make the situation work FOR YOU in whatever situation you are currently in. Don't make it work for that one glorious point in the future and then keep holding and clinging on and totally forget about the path leading there and the very real possibility of failure. It has to be viable and sustainable (for YOU) now and each turn where it is not, each turn where you are giving more or too much: take that turn consciously and know exactly why you are still giving and bleeding into it, understand your motivations and accept them or otherwise do NOT do it. These decisions won't be easy but be honest with yourself and realistic and understand all your time and energy as a very valuable resource you are giving away, so it is just fair you are getting something in return - whatever that something might be. And on the upside: there are a lot of other chances out there. There hardly are that many romantic "only one shot" situations in real life. Do not ever put yourself blindly into those situations where later on you will end up being the one who got completely screwed over and all you have left is your rage.