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Why does nobody talk about the real cost of taking that 'dream' startup job?
I left a stable job at a big company six months ago to join a small tech startup in Austin. They sold me on the vision, the equity, the 'change the world' stuff. My salary was cut by 25k, but I was told the stock options would make up for it. The first three months were great, but then the funding round fell through. Last week, the CEO called an all-hands and said they were letting go of half the team, including me. I went from a secure role to job hunting in a bad market in under a year. The equity is worthless paper now. I was so focused on the potential upside I didn't properly weigh the risk of the base pay cut and the shaky business model. Has anyone else bounced back from a startup layoff and found a way to explain that short stint to new employers?
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