I joined a startup just after their series A. I was offered what they said was a lot of equity (1/2000 of the company). I ended up with the best case scenario: it grew like crazy and 8 years later went public at a multi-billion dollar valuation. My shares had gone up more than 100x.
My payout was good, but financially not worth it. The company raised a bunch along the way (I stopped counting after series G) so I got diluted a fair bit. I also took a lower than market salary for the time I spent there (which was of course justified by the fact the company was growing so fast and people were jumping to hop on a rocket ship).
I ended up with low 7 figures, which, yes, is amazing, but I actually would have had more at any FAANG company during that same period.
So who really got paid? The founders and the executive team (no matter when they joined). It was a good experience, but startups, financially, are not a great move.