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Well we also don't open up about mistakes as often as successes. I'll share mine which is a mixture of both.

The article is basically a rehash of my experience in a start up as the first engineer for a technical founder. I spent the next 6 years growing the company, my skills, and my experiences. I was constantly provided more salary and stock options until I had so many options I could not reasonably exercise them without taking on massive risk. I had to consistently request the status of the option pool to even know what percentage I was granted. When I left the company I effectively had 3 months (Nov 2019 - Feb 2020) to make a decision. I'm personally glad I was conservative and did not exercise them given the outcome of COVID in the US.

I don't regret taking that job at all as it helped me become a very skilled technology professional despite not having a prestigious educational background. It opened new doors which would have otherwise been closed until I had an equal opportunity to prove myself at scale. I do regret the extra hours worked which led to burn out and health issues as well as not being more bullish on salary until later in my career.



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