When Sheryl Sandberg (now Facebook COO) was evaluating whether to join Google, Eric Schmidt (then Google CEO) told her, “If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat. Just get on.”
Everyone’s definition of a rocketship is different but the decision to join a company should be taken much like how an investor decides to invest in a company. We need to know the stage of the company and map it to the stage that we enjoy and are comfortable with. We also need to evaluate the risks the company has eliminated and see if we are OK with the remaining risks. At the very least, prospective employees should ensure that the company is headed in the right direction, has the right fundamentals, and sees a path to rapid growth.