>He forgot to mention preferred shares given to VC’s with liquidation preferences that likely never disclosed to new engineers.
>Usually, the founders and VC have the preferred shares, while someone writing unit tests at 3am does not.
This. I moved into a VP Eng role at a startup and had options for common stock worth about 0.7% of the company. When we were acquired, those were worth zero, though I was decently compensated by the acquiring company with cash and stock. The money I made was due to my role/position rather than my equity.
>Usually, the founders and VC have the preferred shares, while someone writing unit tests at 3am does not.
This. I moved into a VP Eng role at a startup and had options for common stock worth about 0.7% of the company. When we were acquired, those were worth zero, though I was decently compensated by the acquiring company with cash and stock. The money I made was due to my role/position rather than my equity.