A sizeable chunk of well-recognised founders are simply scammers - they take VC money, sell dreams to customers, and exploit engineers as a necessary step to keep the ball rolling.

Think of the operation of a pump and dump with extra steps. The mission is never about creating value, it's about pumping expectations and pulling the rug at the right time.

Maybe a few of them live in the delusion of improving society with their products, but even then, the fact that they don't give a damn about the quality delivered to customers (or are qualified to make any technical judgement) makes them de facto scammers.

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01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2 days ago | parent [-]

That's why the real total compensation from a startup is salary and experience. Does this look good on my resume? Will I learn something I want to learn? Will I be saving money here?

Stocks are worthless. If the company thought their stock was worth anything they wouldn't be giving it away to employees

	▲	silvestrov a day ago \| parent [-]
		Giving stocks instead of salary can be a solution for the company when it is strapped for money and it cannot raise good money on the stock market. Most VC backed companies are not strapped for money, they are often drowning in money. Family run business are often strapped for money but they would also like to NOT give stocks away.