I've worked for some of the largest companies in the world as well as been employee number one at multiple startups (one of which was backed by google ventures), so I hope the following advice is good:
If you're going to found a company, go for it. I'd like to do the same myself someday. If you're going to work for a startup, make sure they pay you well. In dollars (or your local currency). I treat stock options as a lottery ticket, not a substitute for income.
Basically working for a startup is much like working for a big company. Neither really offers you long term stability. You have to deal with politics in both. The biggest difference in my opinion is that startups typically have really long hours and some pretty big egos.
If you're going to found a company, go for it. I'd like to do the same myself someday. If you're going to work for a startup, make sure they pay you well. In dollars (or your local currency). I treat stock options as a lottery ticket, not a substitute for income.
Basically working for a startup is much like working for a big company. Neither really offers you long term stability. You have to deal with politics in both. The biggest difference in my opinion is that startups typically have really long hours and some pretty big egos.