Did you read the article? This isn't about assuming risk for the hope of greater reward, this is about working hard and getting nothing in exchange but 'experience'. That advice is bullshit.
Are you assuming there's no pay involved? I didn't get that from the article; it's not saying take a job for no pay. It's saying it's unreasonable to expect to get paid Google money at a startup.
In exchange for not getting paid what you're worth to Google, you get to touch a lot of different areas and get a lot of experience with a lot of things.