
Ask HN: What should a recent graduate optimize for? - estebandalelr
Here is my dilemma:
I have 2 great options:
1. Work for a lot of money under one of the biggest (most notable) entrepreneurs in my country in a product I don&#x27;t believe much in.
2. Keep my job in the AI startup I work for, with a little vesting and a modest salary, with bosses I like and the chance to grow and eventually lead a team.
I ask this because I just graduated of CS, after working in THE hottest startup in my country directly for the CEO, cofounded a quick to die startup that got big and suddenly went down and give international tech talks.
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baristaGeek
1) If you have little/no debt, just graduated (you are 22 years old
approximately) and have no kids: you don't need tons of cash in the short-
term.

2) Working on a product you don't believe in will suck

3) You don't get rich with a big salary. You get rich with startup equity (and
other assets that appreciate over time such as real estate). However, you
probably know that startup equity involves risk. A big salary, however, can
give you the possibility of doing angel investing (start by backing AngelList
syndicates).

4) If you are seriously considering ever starting another startup again (even
in the long future), you will have a hard time getting used to the startup
life after getting out of the BigCo. Sam Altman elaborated on this on his
latest post, arguing that YC founders that came from senior roles at Google
and Facebook had a really hard time.

Assuming that you would also learn valuable technical skills at the BigCo, I
think it all reduces to this question: Do you want to take the high risk of
becoming rich via startup equity, or not?

