I totally agree with this. I've been in two early stage startups like the OP, both high reputation. The first gained me ~US$12,000 on IPO (I put it towards a Ni

I totally agree with this. I've been in two early stage startups like the OP, both high reputation. The first gained me ~US$12,000 on IPO (I put it towards a Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo :) and the second, US$0 (ironically having that car was part of why they hired me :). Definitely a loss if one counts emotional wear. I still have dreams about being back at the 1st place and they're not good ones.