Back around 2012, I made 10k cash + stock that would eventually net me around 30k on a ~50 million acquisition. I had been at the company for less than a year.

Back around 2012, I made 10k cash + stock that would eventually net me around 30k on a ~50 million acquisition. I had been at the company for less than a year. I was employee #50 or something. This sounds like a much better deal than anything I've seen down thread, and it was actually serious money for me at the time. Honestly, I think this just comes down to the moral character of the founder(s) in the company. If you have a good way of assessing that in the interview process, then maybe take it into account? Doesn't sound easy to do though.