[Also in case anyone do face this argument: as a general rule don't unless you feel like a founder …

… [Also in case anyone do face this argument: as a general rule don't unless you feel like a founder and your share holding gives you good reason to; e.g. even in one of the startups I got 7.5% of on joining I was paid above my previous salary - the one case mentioned above where I was "underpaid" for 6 months, I had 25% of the shares when the company was founded] > But the investor only demands a meager $200 million return on their $400 million investment before they recognize the workers' investments. "The investor" here are mostly VC funds that almost certainly lost money on the return they did get, as they in turn take investments on terms that leave them with a minority of the profit after clearing certain hurdles . Given the duration from the last round and the amount of the exit, it's highly unlikely that exit cleared the hurdle, and so this likely at best did nothing towards the VC fund managers profitability either. At best it will have offset even worse investments a little bit. …