That's a fair point, but I think it's more dangerous to look at them as anything more than a lottery ticket. Since startups are more likely to fail than to suc

That's a fair point, but I think it's more dangerous to look at them as anything more than a lottery ticket. Since startups are more likely to fail than to succeed (no matter how hard you work), don't set yourself up to be disappointed. It's great to be excited that on paper you could be worth $10m, but when you get acquired and the money you thought you had is suddenly worth only $50k and after windfall taxes you walk away with $30k, it can be disappointing. Especially if you take that $30k and divide it over, say, 4 years -- $7500/yr. You probably gave up more than that in salary. Anyways, I guess my point is not to view the stock as being worth anything--it's too easy to get attached to the "paper value" (or even potential value) of the stock. Focus on the learning & networking aspects of the job, not the payouts.