First of all congratulations on finding an exciting next move in your career!

I concur with the sentiment expressed by other commenters: be wary of making financial plans (e.g., paying off a mortgage) that depend on company equity—unless the company is public, which does not seem to be the case per your post.

My advice to people usually is, go to a startup to learn new skills and aim for jobs and responsibilities that you would have trouble getting in larger, more risk-averse organizations.

Do not expect much out of the equity you will be granted for it is too hard to estimate its value: it depends on the cap table and sundry fine print (for instance liquidation preferences can drastically affect how much employees get even if the company exits) and other factors which are hard to control like execution risk. And all in all the financial reward could be far away in the future if the company stays private longer, so your mental model should also take that into account.

There are a lot of great resources online about startup equity, my favorite is the Holloway Guide to Equity, which I highly recommend:

https://www.holloway.com/g/equity-compensation

Good luck!

Yet another variation on this important theme: do not be afraid to speak up when you see areas of waste around you.

You think this or that project is not solving the right problem? Speak up. You think some key result should be achievable with fewer people and sooner than what was planned? Speak up.

I learned this recently, sharing feedback that I was concerned would sound harsh, only to fall on receptive and understanding ears. If anything I should have spoken up sooner/more often!

Your team/startup/etc. will thank you.

I concur! Similarly, Taiwan is stellar when it comes to experiencing the microcosms of Chinese cuisine(s)—Fujianese, Cantonese, etc.

Adding another recommendation, speaking of cuisine lyonnaise: Auberge Pyrénées Cévennes, 106 Rue de la Folie Méricourt, 75011 Paris, France [1].

[1] They even have a website in English! https://www.auberge-pyrenees-cevennes.fr/en/.

Steer clear of the fashionable, and pick their brains about simple foods.

How carefully do they cook their pasta? what is their favorite family of cheeses? brand of tahini? etc.

In my experience, when one obsesses about food, one sweats the small things that make a difference, and delights in them. Terroir, in other words.

On a related note—YC funded a few years ago a cool-looking startup working on a robotic greenhouse, Iron Ox [0].

[0] http://ironox.com/

You may have chanced upon this already but here is a wonderfully explained (IMHO) intro to Kalman filters: https://www.bzarg.com/p/how-a-kalman-filter-works-in-picture...