Don't forget about David Choe, the artist who graffiti'd Facebook for almost $500M in stock compensation. To quote the (not great) movie "Boiler Room", "you see

Don't forget about David Choe, the artist who graffiti'd Facebook for almost $500M in stock compensation. To quote the (not great) movie "Boiler Room", "you see stuff like that and it just plants seeds." Was Choe's comp worth near $500M? Hell no. Is he laughing to the bank? Of course. Is life fair? Hell no. Were other early employees screwed by the Choe's comp? Probably but they made out more than OK. I don't hear Taner complaining. Roll the dice. Make your decisions. Live with them. In 2004 I turned down a job offer from Google. On paper, I'd be worth lotsa millions. In reality, I would have gained zero. Why? Because the team I interviewed with was full of jerks, and I would have quit before my 1 year cliff had I accepted the offer. Instead, I stayed and worked at my then current job. I made a lot of good professional contacts and have never looked back. Would my life have been different if I accepted the Google offer and hit the IPO payday lottery? Possibly. I'm not sure. I don't think about it at all. I moved on over a decade ago. I'm quite happy with my life. There's more to life than being a "early XYZ employee" or "pre-IPO employee". Notorious BIG had it wrong. You don't have to slang rock or have a good jump shot. You can live nicely and happily making assists.