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The minuses you list far outweigh the pluses. - If the work is not challenging, it will not be very useful on your resume anyway. - The network that is import

The minuses you list far outweigh the pluses. - If the work is not challenging, it will not be very useful on your resume anyway. - The network that is important is your personal connections to coworkers - if you are not directly interacting with the people the startup is connected with (I assume you mean, who are investing in it), you might as well not exist, you are another faceless programmer that is growing their investment. - Having a standard workweek of 90+ hours is only worth it if it's your own startup, or you are enjoying the work and are gaining other benefits from it (ie, learning fascinating new skills, building strong relationships, or some other benefit other than money). I would highly advise disregarding your stock options altogether - if they ever amount to anything, it will be a nice surprise, but counting as a direct benefit is not sensible when they will, as with most startups, never amount to anything significant compared to the amount of time and energy you invest. If you burn your energy on a product and company you do not believe in, doing work that is not mentally rewarding, you will eventually burn out. - if you are not sold on the product, and the product is not technically challenging, neither will you produce your best work, nor will you learn much from building it. You can either A) create your own skunkworks in the company, and find ways to make product more interesting to yourself by designing, prototyping, and proposing new features that _are_ technically challenging and give product what it lacks. This only makes sense if you believe that the company will appreciate your efforts, and that the product can be salvaged. B) Find something else you can learn while at the company - better project management skills, pair programming so you can learn from other developers how they think and use their tools, learning how to manage people, learning how to talk to investors and network, etc... C) If you cannot find anything else you can learn while you are at the company, quit. Good developers are hard to find right now, you should have little trouble finding other work.

aeontech 15y ago
And finally, on being a quitter - you will not be seen as a quitter by people who care about your well being if you communicate the situation clearly. The people who may try to shame you as a quitter, will be people who will benefit from you not quitting. People who actually care about you will understand that you need to do what is best for your evolution as a programmer and human being. You have to watch out for your own best benefit. The company, especially if it is full of smart people as you say it is, will survive without you just fine. Depending on the founders, the board of directors, and the investors, it will also, without a qualm, throw you under the bus if that is beneficial to them, especially if you already do not get along with the founder. This is not to say that all companies/founders/directors are evil, but you have to be aware of the risk/benefit and judge it rationally, rather than sacrificing your own well-being, your irreplaceable time, and your energy on a company that does not appreciate it, nor give you a fair exchange mentally or financially.

aeontech 15y ago

And finally, on being a quitter - you will not be seen as a quitter by people who care about your well being if you communicate the situation clearly. The people who may try to shame you as a quitter, will be people who will benefit from you not quitting. People who actually care about you will understand that you need to do what is best for your evolution as a programmer and human being. You have to watch out for your own best benefit. The company, especially if it is full of smart people as you say it is, will survive without you just fine. Depending on the founders, the board of directors, and the investors, it will also, without a qualm, throw you under the bus if that is beneficial to them, especially if you already do not get along with the founder. This is not to say that all companies/founders/directors are evil, but you have to be aware of the risk/benefit and judge it rationally, rather than sacrificing your own well-being, your irreplaceable time, and your energy on a company that does not appreciate it, nor give you a fair exchange mentally or financially.