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Uh, I'm working for a startup because it pays more then more established companies and provides better benefits.

I'm not sure why I would work for less unless I was founder, or it was a charity or other public good.

This is definitely uncommon. Startup cash compensation for engineers in SV is about 1/2 of a large tech company's.

Base or TC?

Depends on how you value your lottery tickets. The value I assign to them is 0 until proven otherwise.