>Yet my most downvoted comment on reddit ever was on /r/cscareerquestions when somebody was asking how to weigh stock options when considering job options and I

>Yet my most downvoted comment on reddit ever was on /r/cscareerquestions when somebody was asking how to weigh stock options when considering job options and I said "not at all" and shared my own experiences. I'm pretty sure I had the exact same experience. I've been a part of three startups. One took nothing more than seed money and has been chugging along for over 15 years. It's a lifestyle business for the owner, so it also hasn't grown at all in over 10 years. The other two startups were both acquired. I was even a VP at one with over 1% equity in the company. Net value of my options was $0 after investors, credit holders, and founders got paid. Yes, some folks are going to make millions from IPOs, but the opportunity cost is far too high (IMHO). As a VP at the startup, my total compensation with 15 years of experience wasn't a whole lot more (and less, in many cases) than what a new college grad makes nowadays. Now that I've got a family, college to pay for at some point in the near future, and a retirement to fund, I'll gladly take the sure thing vs. the gamble. I've bid goodbye to startups and have quadrupled my income in doing so.