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What behavioral incentive do lotto tickets give the buyer? Options/stock work for both parties because of alignment.

I'm kind of getting at the fact that people tend to optimistically overestimate the likelihood of positive outcomes. This is true for lottery tickets, and stock options (every startup is definitely going to the moon).

From the company's perspective, options/equity are great for creating alignment. From an employee perspective, employees need to understand that they are making a bet and have limited control over the outcome of said bet.

I agree with that aspect, but I still think there's a difference. You can't effect the outcome of lotto ticket. To some extent, you can with stock. The incentive probably helps the company more than it helps the individual, but that's the nice part of the feedback again.

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