Equity, as a VC or a founder, is very important. You also have a good amount of control over where the company goes, your stake only gets diluted on your terms,

Equity, as a VC or a founder, is very important. You also have a good amount of control over where the company goes, your stake only gets diluted on your terms, and the company's behavior can be tweaked to make sure you get a good exit. As an employee, getting a small amount of common stock, none of those things apply: In practice, if things aren't going wonderfully, it's pretty easy for you to end up with worthless options, even when the founders and VCs end up alright. Even when the company is doing fine, founders rethinking how much equity they really want employees to have is not unheard of. Any calculation you make doesn't matter, as you are at the mercy of other people. You'd see valuing employee equity very differently we all had not heard of, or been a part of, those horror stories.