[zebnyc]

Serious question: How do you vet for these? I would be interested in a founding engineer position as well but how do you know that the company itself has potential and not just hot air. Additionally, it seems I cannot get into an early stage startup cause I have never worked in an early stage startup.

[valand]

I found it quite hard myself, but there are a couple of values that I use as heuristic:

- it is either looking to get sustainable as early as possible,

- or, if not, it is a research into the unknown (e.g. quantum computing, different purpose of db, new kind of AI, space exploration, green earth initiatives, even the early phases of blockchain)

Another points would be if the founders have the motivation to give back rather than take as much profit. My current company's founder have a dream to make an incubator for aspiring game makers, for example.

> I have never worked in an early stage startup.

The young company I have been in is when it was 1-year old. Founders are not looking for a mere "engineer", but one that can drive the team "above and beyond" style, because it is important for a small company. But, it is very difficult to see in people. The common mistake of many is to look for their own virtues in other people, which pretty much limits the other set of people not having the same virtue. E.g. Founders that focus on verbal communication and sales filter out people that cannot speak fluently, even though those are excellent product and engineering people.