I joined my first startup in 1988. My previous company was acquired by Xerox, and I met "lifers", (in their 60s, worked there since graduation, looking forward to pension). I didn't want to be a lifer.
My parents thought I was nuts for not going to IBM. My wife was working at Digital, and hating it. She encouraged me to go to the startup. Which I did, and I'm still doing startups 25 years later. (I predicted that my startup would be in business when Digital no longer existed, and for a short time, that was true.)
At that first startup, I formulated a very simple test for deciding where to work and what to work on. I ask myself: Am I having fun? Am I creating something new and valuable? Am I being rewarded adequately? (i.e., financially).
This has worked out really well. I've worked on and shipped really interesting software, I am constantly learning new stuff, and it has paid off nicely.
My parents thought I was nuts for not going to IBM. My wife was working at Digital, and hating it. She encouraged me to go to the startup. Which I did, and I'm still doing startups 25 years later. (I predicted that my startup would be in business when Digital no longer existed, and for a short time, that was true.)
At that first startup, I formulated a very simple test for deciding where to work and what to work on. I ask myself: Am I having fun? Am I creating something new and valuable? Am I being rewarded adequately? (i.e., financially).
This has worked out really well. I've worked on and shipped really interesting software, I am constantly learning new stuff, and it has paid off nicely.