I just finished a job search 6 months ago and it came down to comp. The earlier-stage companies I talked to seemed much more fun, but my life has some problems

I just finished a job search 6 months ago and it came down to comp. The earlier-stage companies I talked to seemed much more fun, but my life has some problems that money solves, and comp was very important. The base comp was lower at the early-stage companies, but not critically so. The problem is that ~half of an engineer's comp these days is equity, and startup equity offers were far, far, far lower. My best startup equity offer implied ~2M for a 100M exit. If it takes 5 years to pull that off, I'm better off not just at FAANG, but any number of established companies. > I think the next phase is to move the needle in favor of early employees. I would love to see this happen. I like my new gig but I'm not scratching the entrepreneurial itch like I could if I were employee # less than 50. My life can handle the chaos of something failing in 24 months; FAANG will always be there if it doesn't work out. But I'm not in a position to be a founder, and I can't roll the dice for 5 years for the chance at 1/100th of the payday of a founder. But maybe 1/10th the payday?...