My startup was my life's work. It has been closed for over a year and I have found a good job. I am now working for a great startup doing exciting work, but it feels like I am building someone else's dream. I can't get used to it.

You are not alone. I have felt this exact set of feelings. I wish you well, from the bottom of my heart

Take this as a break and a learning Opp. Start again when you are ready —cheers

Well, actually you are building someone else's dream - that's the reason, why you get paid for it. Just see it as a job / a temporary solution (depending on your further plan), that'll help.

My first startup ended in acqui-hire. I thought it was a dream-come-true at the beginning, earning a salary with health benefits. But complacency is a heavy burden.

How shitty is that? I now how have a great job that pays well with excellent benefits, but it belongs to someone else and it's eating at me inside.

It took a few years and the birth of my first child to found a new startup on the side. But I am doing it. I think you need to hunker down, save some of that salary for when you need to get financially lean (personally) again. And start something new, two years before you feel ready to. Don't make a habit out of employment.

And please, someone give me the same advice.