Ask HN: Why would any senior engineer join an early stage startup?

A lot of friends, after a couple of early stage startup stints, decide to either join an established company or start on their own. Collectively we've concluded that it's almost never worth it to join somebody else's startup if you're a skilled ("senior") engineer with some sense of product and marketing.

Briefly, here are the reasons,

- Lack of control over product direction (if your hunch is different than founder, you got to disagree and commit)

- Taking a pay cut for small amount of equity with low odds of success

- Amount of time and energy you put in is almost equal if you were to start your own

So it makes sense to either start on your own (if you can afford the risk) or join a good team in an established company where you can save up some cash and recharge yourself with good work-life balance for a few years.

I would love to hear counter arguments.

P.S. - I acknowledge the benefits of joining early team for fresh graduates and such, my argument is mainly for folks who are further along.