Investing & Joining a Startup (I will not promote)

Hey guys, I'm an international student who just finished their Masters in computer science. I've always wanted to work in a startup environment and given how bad the market is right now( I do not have prior industry work experience which means the job market is much more cruel on me.) there has never been more inclination towards joining a startup imo. I understand that shouldn't be the sole reasons to, but it has definitely affected my old desire to join one. On the other hand, I have an investor friend who wants to try his hand in tech and has some trust in me. So, I'm strongly considering, choosing a small but promising tech startup (preferably in AI because I have some experience in that), investing heavily into it (heavily isn't in $Ms obviously but a decent amount for sure) and dedicating maybe a couple or more years into it, that way I might be able to work on something interesting, (hopefully) push the company to success, as well as get some work experience (from ground up). Would love to hear opinions on this, thank you so much for your time. :) I will not promote