I started out with a start-up, the pay was poor and any benefits or 401k were very very minimal. I put up with it because the work was "interesting". Then I got a call from a recruiter in a FAANG company, and their salary range for the exact same role, started at an 80% increase in baseline salary, with nearly the same again in RSU's and benefits. Then I went into a managerial role with a non-tech company, which was a small increase again, and more lately back into another tech company which has me getting an increase yet again.
In ten years I've probably tripled my baseline salary, and total compensation is probably 5 to 10 times what it was for a similar level of effort.