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There are people who got out of Google and were the founders of the companies and indeed many more made enough money in the startup scene. I had 6% in my first

There are people who got out of Google and were the founders of the companies and indeed many more made enough money in the startup scene. I had 6% in my first startup as a programmer, 15% at my second, 5% at the third and 90% of the current business. The minority stakes gave me enough capital to start my last one and it is bootstrapped w/o any VCs this time. From my point of view, you either take the risk and get a bigger slice of the pie or you're not and getting a smaller one. It's perfectly OK to work from 9-5 in a big company and spending your time outside work to try to start something. The system is not rigged, the more risk you take, the more control you can keep the better the outcome will be. Yeah, this guys had worked their tails off, but they got paid for that and had a change to make it big if the company sold and they vested. However, they didn't work as a startup founder without any money for 2 years with maxed out CCs. This risk is not a healthy one, especially when you have a family. Bootstrapping an AI company now is hard, because of the capital requirements, but building something with AI models (or creating specialized ones) is still doable. This system is so much better than the non IT sector jobs, where you're limited to work in a big company. You have choice to earn something above the salary, most people haven't.

tsunamifury 1y ago
Dude, lets be real here. You join early, take a risk, get a solid slice, maybe build your own thing later. That era produced a lot of good outcomes for smart people willing to bet on themselves. That’s not the game anymore. Today, most of these companies lock the cap table before engineers show up. The infrastructure costs are massive—bootstrapping isn’t just hard, it’s often structurally impossible in AI unless you’re rich or already plugged in. The story everyone’s still selling—about meritocracy, about “just take the risk”—doesn’t match the way power and ownership actually work now. The people building the models aren’t getting meaningful equity. The platforms are licensing them behind closed doors. The upside is flowing to founders, corporate partners, and late-stage investors who shape the game long before most people touch it. And yeah, a few still break out. But the vast majority? They’re just very clever labor with a better kitchen. If you made it work before, that’s awesome. But let’s not pretend the system hasn’t shifted underneath the next generation.

tsunamifury 1y ago

Dude, lets be real here. You join early, take a risk, get a solid slice, maybe build your own thing later. That era produced a lot of good outcomes for smart people willing to bet on themselves. That’s not the game anymore. Today, most of these companies lock the cap table before engineers show up. The infrastructure costs are massive—bootstrapping isn’t just hard, it’s often structurally impossible in AI unless you’re rich or already plugged in. The story everyone’s still selling—about meritocracy, about “just take the risk”—doesn’t match the way power and ownership actually work now. The people building the models aren’t getting meaningful equity. The platforms are licensing them behind closed doors. The upside is flowing to founders, corporate partners, and late-stage investors who shape the game long before most people touch it. And yeah, a few still break out. But the vast majority? They’re just very clever labor with a better kitchen. If you made it work before, that’s awesome. But let’s not pretend the system hasn’t shifted underneath the next generation.