I haven't seen any mentions here if being in a startup fundamentally changes the argument. I think startups would want to leverage the individual talent and personal time sacrifice to bootstrap themselves and build their dream team. I have found the opposite, that they want to be even more controlling in work environment. I am probably biased as it did take a few months to adjust to remote work and find a decent balance of zoom meetings/reporting but now have a good groove between my peers and boss. Given HR's surveys to determine who wants to return to the office, I would rather stay remote. Out of my past 2 startup jobs in the past decade, it's 50/50 whether remote worked well.
My recent anecdote: Startup out of stealth a month ago informed me during 2nd round that they were only considering programmers willing to relocate and live in Austin. No remote option whatsoever. Asking what would happen if there are additional lockdown measures reinstituted, for Delta or even just whatever other 'virus-of-the-year' comes along, they didn't have any answer other than to repeat Austin-based only.
Bonus: Their founders and early execs are today only located in SF bay area and have no plans to relocate and the in-office only policy would only be for the devs.
I could first relate to this when I was working in a kitchen and how awful people can be when they fully assert up front that because of your job, you can be treated however they feel entitled to treat you.
Also reminds me of the Stanford prison experiment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment
Does this remind anyone else of the high APR (20-30%) credit cards offered to college students? I remember a table set up outside the main dining hall where they pitched getting started building that credit history ASAP.
Now it's about building that portfolio ASAP and offering it to the most risk-tolerant age demographic. Subtly updated buying whatever you want on credit and worrying about whether you could afford it later, to buying into whatever risky position you want and worrying about covering it later.
My recent anecdote: Startup out of stealth a month ago informed me during 2nd round that they were only considering programmers willing to relocate and live in Austin. No remote option whatsoever. Asking what would happen if there are additional lockdown measures reinstituted, for Delta or even just whatever other 'virus-of-the-year' comes along, they didn't have any answer other than to repeat Austin-based only.
Bonus: Their founders and early execs are today only located in SF bay area and have no plans to relocate and the in-office only policy would only be for the devs.