It's not about the amount of effort that you've contributed, it's about the amount of risk you've taken on. The larger the company gets, the less likely it is i

It's not about the amount of effort that you've contributed, it's about the amount of risk you've taken on. The larger the company gets, the less likely it is in general to fail. So of course those who join sooner get more money - they took on far more risk than the guy who joined the month before the liquidity event.