Many startup employees do not recognize the sheer litany of ways that a founder can screw you over without you even knowing. Founder trust is one of the most important things to look at when you’re joining a startup.
From cutting you out of M&A, screwing your retention pool, overdiluting your equity, firing you before your cliff, not having attractive options exercise plans, poor 409a price management, not telling you about QSBS / early exercise, blocking you from participating in secondary, obscuring company performance and many more.
Many many decisions that are made in rooms you are not in as an employee where the only thing that matters is: “does the founder have your back?” Great startups with untrustworthy founders lead to poor outcomes and often good startups with trustworthy founders lead to great outcomes.
Pick wisely.
Two years ago, when I was desperate for funding, I reached out to a lot of firms. A firm from Dubai eventually reached out to me and drafted a ridiculous contract proposal. I fed it into ChatGPT, and it flagged a lot of irregularities.
They were essentially telling me that they would help me raise funds from other VCs, with me doing 70% of the work, but in the end, they would take over my company. They also indemnified themselves against debt and insolvency while clearly stating that I could be sued for anything if they detected any underhanded practices. That condition was subtly embedded in the fine print.
Long story short, I backed out, and to this day, I don't respond to their outreach messages.
Sep 4, 2026 · 4:02 PM UTC