I wish I knew how to recognize a bad manager, and what to do when you find yourself working for one. I was eager to prove myself in my first job out of college, typical overachiever. Naively believed that if someone was a manager it meant they were good at what they did and wanted the best for you too.

Didn't realize until I burned out what a loss of time and energy it was putting so much effort into trying to do a 'good job' for someone who lacked empathy and was just not suited for management. It took me years to unravel the damage from that experience. I went into new jobs with what I would describe as PTSD learned from that first job. It was a professional trauma, and I didn't realize how disordered that startup and management team was until I worked at other places. I learned a lot from it. But it set me back a few years.

That brings me to my next point. The exciting, glamorous startups with high profile executives and investors are often just a huge mess under all the flashy PR and social media personalities. I don't regret learning that the hard way, just wish I wasn't so naive and allured by brand names at the start of my career.