I never said it was a guarantee to make millions, just that I think over a programmer's career it is comparatively likely to make $5-50M working at a startup th

I never said it was a guarantee to make millions, just that I think over a programmer's career it is comparatively likely to make $5-50M working at a startup than starting your own, and you will be net happier on average by working at a startup than starting your own. Also, many startups these days do pay market rates. Weebly certainly does. The startups that don't pay market are generally sub-10 people and you get an even higher equity grant for that. Regardless, joining a startup is obviously a gamble and very far from a sure thing, but at the end of the day, so is starting your own startup.