I let promises of being a millionaire working for a start-up drive me to eating shit for well over ten years, and it caused irreparable mental, emotional, and physical damage through stress, overwork, and self-neglect. Wanna know what I made for my trouble? $2000. All it cost me was the prime of my life, time I can never get back with people who are now gone, a lot of bad habits and missed opportunity.

Everyone wants to score big these days, but so few understand the value of slow and steady. Not saying you shouldn’t take your shots or that you should be pathologically terrified of risk or hard work, but I’ll take stability, balance, and being able to sleep at night any day of the week.

Somewhat related, be on guard for a misplaced sense of loyalty. The “old days” of you putting your life into a business and the business taking care of you, if they ever existed, started dying out a long time ago. In tech it’s virtually extinct, and in fact is actually rather risky. I’m starting to believe that sticking around for more than 5 years in this industry actually puts you at a disadvantage (unless you’re a founder or something). At any rate, don’t get too comfortable and don’t be afraid to get the hell out of there if a job is making you unhappy.