[strontian]

I'm curious whether anyone has written much about this subject as it's very interesting and rarely discussed.

I've done this a few times and overall it went better than working with a stranger-founder.

ALTHOUGH - You should understand that, independent from the various forms of risk the business faces, and also independent from the financial risk and uncertainty you face through your agreements with the startup:

1. The social fabric of startups are highly unstable for the first few years.

2. The beliefs the participants have about the world, the other people in the organization, what to do, and so on is also highly unstable.

Your relationship is a minor player relative to the other(sometimes chaotic) forces affecting the organization, however generally it works in your favor.

Also, the normal rules for navigating a startup are still apply. Of those, the most important is selecting the right startup to join.