A startup might make lots of money, but most never succeed. As a regular dev in an established company, I expect to make a lot, my goal is $400k a year in total

A startup might make lots of money, but most never succeed. As a regular dev in an established company, I expect to make a lot, my goal is $400k a year in total comp, but I might only break 300k this year. I'm not the VP, I'm not a director. I'm an experienced dev in Seattle, I hope for $200k in stock, 200k in salary + bonus. I have 20 years of experience. As many people have said, you don't have to do your own startup to make a lot of money at the big companies. In Seattle, your average 10 year experience google employee is making $200k salary + bonus, and then at least $100k in stock. Amazon, Msft, Facebook pay comparably.