If you're doing all the work and it's painfully obvious that things aren't working, you might be exploited.

When recruiting, it's beneficial to be upfront about the hard aspects of the job while highlighting the amazing opportunities it presents.

Great candidates are attracted to challenging problems, so it's important to be transparent about the difficulties they will face in the role.

Avoid saying you're in on an investment just to keep your options open; be honest about your concerns regarding financing risks instead.

It's beneficial to have a nuanced understanding of how hard it is to build something successful. Sometimes, underestimating the difficulty can be helpful, but be cautious of flipping into a negative mindset when challenges arise.

Avoiding hard conversations means no one wins, especially the employee, who likely knows something is wrong and expects you to address it.

Understanding your personal motivations, even in a work context, is important; if your goal is to make money, acknowledge it, and if it makes you uncomfortable, discuss that too.

Every biography I've read shows that achieving anything excellent requires negotiating with a world that pushes against you, leading to discomfort.

If you're working significantly harder than your business counterparts, it may be a sign of being exploited, especially if they are not contributing equally to the startup's success.