Something to further emphasize here: time to exit. Many would-be startup employees seem to underestimate the length of the road from founding to funding to pay

Something to further emphasize here: time to exit. Many would-be startup employees seem to underestimate the length of the road from founding to funding to payout. Even if an exit happens (which, as we've established, is rare), it's likely going to happen a lot later than you'd think. And the exit itself is more likely to be a drawn-out process than an instantaneous event.