Mitby says Tellme Networks is an ideal startup: While it offers the excitement of a new venture, he says that the company is much more likely to succeed because of the big names behind it, including Netscape's former vice-president of technology.
"There's a lot of people who are risk-averse to startups," he says, "but when you look at who they are backed by, this company seemed to have it all."
The particular company can make all the difference.
"You can work 10, 15 hours a day and get paid in options," Timaru says. "The company goes down, and you end up with nothing."
But the rewards of choosing a successful startup can be great--including the potential to influence the future of technology.
That possibility, many students seem to think, makes finding themselves at another MicroStrategy an acceptable risk.
--Staff writer Eric S. Barr can be reached at barr@fas.harvard.edu.