I can't contribute a lot; I'm not a programmer, and I've never started a company. Though I've always loved tech, I guess I was never that idealistic about anything. I've ridden the IPO bandwagon, done the acquisition thing, done the bigcorp thing. I've been "in the industry" for 25 years and I guess I've burned out a few times, but usually it was about the company I worked for and team I worked on at the time.
It doesn't sound like the poster's complaints are anything tech-specific, just that (s)he chose to deploy their optimism in the general direction of the tech industry, and can't deal with the fact that the industry just doesn't work in an altogether idealistic, altruistic manner. I question whether their subsequent employment is truly "better" in those regards, or if their standards are merely lower/more cynical.
I don't know how to say "don't have expectations that high" in a way that's any more useful than telling a depressed person to "stop being depressed", but while I can see WHY they've burned out, I just can't come up with a "solution".
It doesn't sound like the poster's complaints are anything tech-specific, just that (s)he chose to deploy their optimism in the general direction of the tech industry, and can't deal with the fact that the industry just doesn't work in an altogether idealistic, altruistic manner. I question whether their subsequent employment is truly "better" in those regards, or if their standards are merely lower/more cynical.
I don't know how to say "don't have expectations that high" in a way that's any more useful than telling a depressed person to "stop being depressed", but while I can see WHY they've burned out, I just can't come up with a "solution".