What to Look for in an AI Startup Employer

Not all AI startups are created equal. Here's how to evaluate them. ## 1. Funding and Runway - **Series A+**: More stable, better comp - **Seed**: Higher risk, more equity potential - **Ask:** "What's your current runway?" - **Red flag:** Less than 12 months runway ## 2. Technical Team - **Leadership:** Check founders' backgrounds (LinkedIn) - **Publications:** Do they publish research? - **Engineering:** What % are senior engineers? - **Ask:** "Tell me about your tech leads" ## 3. AI Differentiation - **Real AI or AI-washing?** Ask about their models - **Data moat:** Do they have proprietary data? - **Technical depth:** Custom models or just API calls? ## 4. Product-Market Fit - **Customers:** Do they have paying users? - **Growth:** What's the MoM/YoY growth? - **Market:** Is the market growing or saturated? ## 5. Compensation - **Equity:** 0.1-1% for senior roles at Series A - **Base:** Should be 80-100% of big tech - **Ask:** "What's your valuation and dilution expectation?" ## Red Flags - Vague about technology - No technical co-founder - Overpromising capabilities - Poor Glassdoor reviews