How to evaluate a startup before joining

The unrolled version:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1410989291895869445.html

I've found a much simpler metric.

You should ask for your market salary plus equity. The market salary removes the risk of opportunity cost, and the equity protects against the risk that the company could shut down in a year.

Any company that isn't willing to invest in its core product with market salaries had better have a very well thought out reason for doing so, and I haven't encountered that reason yet.

That said, the thread is useful for evaluating a startup from an investor or an early employee (who is also an investor)POV.

I've worked for a couple of start ups. I've learned a couple of things. If you don't trust the president of the company, run. If you think the company is making poor financial decisions, run.