It depends on the state of the company. In the beginning, the share price between common (employee) and preferred (investor) stock can be very significant (10x

It depends on the state of the company. In the beginning, the share price between common (employee) and preferred (investor) stock can be very significant (10x or more), but as the company gets closer to IPO, the value between common and preferred stock converges to 1. Some unicorns get around this issue by issuing RSUs that retain some value even if the share price drops.