Too many people don’t do their research and understand how preferred status on the cap table works, minimum payouts, and other things that are typically (sadly intentionally) withheld from employees receiving these offers. People hear about startups selling or being acquired for millions or even billions but too often nearly all that money is just paying back the original investors with some modest returns so they can move on. There can be little, or even nothing, for employees holding options. If the company is acquired you might get a nice stash package to welcome you onboard with a t-shirt.

Obviously there are other stories that see employees become fantastically wealthy, but that’s a rare exception not the norm. Equity comp at a publicly traded company (via RSUs) is very different than equity comp in a privately held venture. With RSUs you’re still at the mercy of the market but you know how much they’re worth literally second by second.

At a startup as an employee you should generally assume those shares are worth nothing and be OK making what you’ll be making then. Anything above that is a nice windfall bonus.