Are you in a startup career path or are you one and done?

I think you can certainly be successful in that mode. I was--working in almost complete isolation, and afterwards I still wasn't really a part of the startup community (since I didn't really know many people in it).

What I missed though and what I've realized since is that if you actively engage in that community you end up meeting people that end up helping you that you would otherwise never meet because you can't justify meeting them with your head down all the time.

So it ends up being sort of non-intuitive, and hence the post. I think if you do relax that mode a bit your chances actually go up. Of course there needs to be a balance though.

I think this is kind of important for any development role (not just at a startup). It's definitely good/important to be "the guy everyone goes to" in any organization.

I'm not sure how I feel about phrase "startup career path" as concept. Not that I disagree with what Gabriel is saying here, but be careful not to box yourself in conceptually.

I definitely consider myself an early-stage startup guy, and I am extremely hesitant to work for a large company, however I've actually only been in a true startup for 3 years out of a 12-year career. Before that I worked for a public University, a new media agency, and a bunch of small freelance gigs. In all of those circumstances I was able to do great work, meet great people, and learn a lot about business (yes even at the U).

Now it's true that nothing matches the ambition or intensity of a true startup, and it's definitely a place I like to be. Conventional wisdom in silicon valley evolves quickly, but it's very inbred, and it tends to create bubbles of competition around sexy concepts, where hundreds or thousands of the very smartest people in the world are working 18 hour days on some specific concept that doesn't even have a market yet (eg. Check-in-base mobile apps). Meanwhile, out in wider industries you find huge markets with huge inefficiencies due; billion dollar markets that are ripe for disruption, with reasonably small barriers to entry for someone with a little inside information.

If you bring your technical and execution skills to one of these markets you have a much greater chance of success, and with an established market you also can be sure there's something really there. Spending a couple years in an established company could be the seed to a brilliant startup. Likewise, working on yet another social widget just for the sake of being in a "startup" could land you with obsolete skills when app-fatigue turns to backlash, and silicon valley moves onto the next hot thing.

Depends on what you mean by torpedo'ing your career. Yeah, maybe your options are worthless but you will learn a lot about what does and doesn't work in startups. You can use this in any of your future endeavors. Also, the relationships you form and network you create could be invaluable. My dad worked for a startup that failed about 15 years ago and his friends from it still meet every once in awhile to help each other out and network.

Edit: FYI- he had mentioned working for an unsuccessful startup would torpedo your career.