“You can play “keeping up with the Google’s” in an attempt to distract yourself with comfort… the off-sites, the gourmet lunches, the talks from esteemed guest lecturers… but what do you want those lecturers to tell you? That you can push yourself while still remaining perfectly comfortable? That your company’s latest valuation is too big to fail?
Here’s what they should be telling you: You cannot have great reward — whether those rewards are monetary or in terms of impact you’ve had on the world — without great risk. But somehow there has been a cultural shift to deny this reality. It’s not that SV has taken on too much or been too cavalier with risk, it’s that everyone — from VCs to ICs — has bit by bit tried to remove risk from the equation entirely while still expecting a guaranteed reward. Everyone is guilty… whether it be through liquidation preferences and ratchets or hoarding too much equity or high salaries and oversized benefits.” – Artypapers