The dilution you'll get from Series B onward is maybe 30% total. That's not "massive" IMO. (Obviously much higher dilution in a down round, if you're a founde

The dilution you'll get from Series B onward is maybe 30% total. That's not "massive" IMO. (Obviously much higher dilution in a down round, if you're a founder who gets kicked out and crammed down, or if the company has a marginal exit, you're not part of the retention, and they choose to put all the acquisition into retention...) Being a senior-ish employee at a Pre-IPO (i.e. Series C/D company, on a great trajectory, and an obvious winner) is probably the optimal outcome for total compensation; for cash, consulting, if you can find the right niche. (Startup founder MAY actually be superior to Seed/Series A startup employee, though, especially due to both tax issues and what happens when the company does anything less than stellar. OTOH, you can jump ship as a Series A employee, even manager, with no real negatives; if you're a founder, you're pretty much committed until the end, or at least until some serious inflection point, especially in a suboptimal outcome.)