how do you avoid burnout and getting taken advantage of?
pm: I would agree that you direly need to found your own startup, but right now you need to find balance.  You need to reduce your working hours.  You need to work less during those hours.  And you sure as hell need to forget that your stock options even exist, because in the end they aren't going to be worth horseshit.Once you've made that change, what should you do? Get away from programming and the tech industry! Call in sick for two days and shag your girlfriend stupid.  Go to the beach and relax in the sunshine.  Enjoy life.  Being successful requires sacrifice, but it should not require the sacrifice of the small things in life which make it worth living.Once you've done readjusted to living life a day at a time, you'll at some point want to dig into a new project.  At that point, start hacking, but not too much.  With any luck, you'll find yourself founding a startup in no time.