>But if I had to do it all over again, I still might do the startup route. It's just more fun. There's more to life than money.
Easy to say because you have gotten the money. :-D
Easy to say because you have gotten the money. :-D
As someone just starting out, the hidden cost of exercising and the tax bill that follows was staggering. It would have eaten up most of my fledgeling liquidity and dug into my rainy day fund.
My advice to my former self would be to take more cash over equity and invest that cash in the public markets. Diversify your investments to reduce the risk of the giant startup bet you're about to make. Compounding is a hell of a thing, even over four years, and people tend to forget to account for investment returns when they value their cash.