Are there any 1st-3rd year associates who left big law to become GC at a startup? I know it’s very rare, and ill-advised, but would love to hear from anyone who found the experience rewarding despite the risks.

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Yeah, there's crickets here for a reason. Any company that wants a 1-3 year as their GC is either looking for a punching bag to cover bad decisions or has no idea what a legal team does (and bad news for you, neither will you). It will not go well.

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Even Theranos hired experienced attorneys (mostly former biglaw partners) as GC….

What? Theranos hired a munger associate as their GC

Those who've taken those jobs have usually regretted them having known a small number of them.

To be a good in house atty you need to develop good judgment. If you want to be a GC for an early stage startup work at an ecvc practice. you will be outside GC to dozens of founders. you will get insight into how c suites work, the differences between good and bad leaders, and learn to recognize all the different ways people can be good or bad leaders. very hard to develop that kind of judgment as in house counsel. It gets a lot more political bc your client is now your employer and you will generally have less access to the board and leadership team if you are not GC.

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