You're rationalizing your state of being underpaid, which is understandable (you want to feel like you're making good choices in your life) but not very rationa

You're rationalizing your state of being underpaid, which is understandable (you want to feel like you're making good choices in your life) but not very rational. The tell-tale sign is that you compare your current position with a bad job (consultancy). The thing is: there are plenty of startups that make cool things and have nice people AND pay well AND offer good equity AND have potential to take off in the future. So if you really think you're underpaid for your skills (as in: you could find another job that is as good as this one and pays better), you should ask for a raise that would match a market rate for your current skills. If a raise is not possible, you should start looking for a new job (and if you're in SF/Bay Area, there have never been a better time to do that).