Article makes some good points. The cash-out value of "equity" one gets in a startup can, if you are lucky, result in some nice lump sum at some point down the

Article makes some good points. The cash-out value of "equity" one gets in a startup can, if you are lucky, result in some nice lump sum at some point down the line. However, many often miss the point that this big lump sum is quite often still much less that the cash given up in the meantime by agreeing to accept lower cash comp in exchange for said equity. No different than when people talk about how they bought a house for X and then sold it for Y at some point down the line, giving the impression that they made a nice return on investment. Off course such casual math forgets that it costs a ton of money in interest, taxes and maintenance costs to hold such an asset for this length of time and these need to be subtracted from what appears to be a nice lump sum payment down the line. In reality, net net many people never make a $1 owning their nice fancy house even though when they sell it results in a nice lump sum. With jobs and houses there are lots of other factors at play, but when it comes to $ it's important to understand the difference between perceived "windfalls" and actual net return. The true results are often not what people expected.