The Exit is a Liquidity Event, Not a Career

 The tech world is now populated by "Mercenaries" working for the "Vesting Date." This mindset creates Hollow Products—software built to be sold to a conglomerate, not to be used by a human. When you work for the "Exit," you sacrifice the "Why" of the user for the "Monetize" of the shareholder.

You may be asked to be the "Professional Asshole"—the one who does the work others won't touch. But there is another path: the Stewardship model. We stayed at our posts not for the stock options, but because we took pride in the structural integrity of the information.

Stock vests, but your reputation for Truth is the only "Rainy Day Fund" that never devalues. Don't be the person who writes the lie that sells the company; be the person who writes the truth that saves the user.