Billion/million rule is the cutoff for "real startup". It stops being a startup when, if acquired or IPO'd for $1 billion, a full-time entry-level engineer mak

Billion/million rule is the cutoff for "real startup". It stops being a startup when, if acquired or IPO'd for $1 billion, a full-time entry-level engineer makes less than $1 million after taxes. For straight equity, that puts the cutoff around 0.2%. For options, it depends on the strike. By 250, new employees are getting much less than that.