[chinese_donald]

You are looking for an employee with the same temperament and grit that it takes to be a founder.

The reason they are hard to find is because most aren't willing to be paid under market value for the small chance that your startup will succeed. If a unicorn employee is smart, they will found their own company.

I don't know if I would consider myself a 'unicorn employee', but I made many other people rich over the years because I was able to easily switch hats and get the job done.

The reward was sacrifice and hard work for a salary that was beneath the current market value and having to switch jobs every few years when either the company folded or was bought out and the employees were replaced.

At one company, the stock I received in exchange for the lower salary was devalued to nothing a few months later when the company owner created a brand new LLC and dumped all the stock that had been given out to employees.