There are some non financial benefits. Many early stage startups are a low oversight environment. This can mean lots of things, beneficial to certain kinds of

There are some non financial benefits. Many early stage startups are a low oversight environment. This can mean lots of things, beneficial to certain kinds of people: easily push code to prod, touch production databases directly, work weird hours, fix almost any problem you want yourself, know how everything fits together, have more control over your work machine, etc. Not all startups are grueling to work for. I've been at startups where I barely worked 4 hours a day at times. Results matter more. Finally, if you just really hate the big tech interview process, you can get into many startups with minimal prep. Not saying it's a financially optimal use of one's time, but it is a thing some people value.