[maconic]

I would recommend making a distinction between a startup that manages to get acquired as a small team for building a good product (Instagram is an extreme example... but I know of a few startups that few here have ever heard of where the outcome for employees was substantially better over the same period than if they had worked for Google or Facebook).

There is perhaps a warranted disdain for the behavior of founders on this thread, but I would also like to point out there are founders that genuinely care about the people on their team and would either ensure the equity was sufficient upfront or--if the total size and scale of the startup was miscalculated initially such as assuming the startup needed 100 employees when it really only needed 10--ensuring they receive ample compensation from the acquirer or not taking the deal. These types of founders do exist too, and I think there is an onus on an employee to figure out what kind of boss they have signed up to work for. If I had a few interactions with Steve Jobs, for example, I'm 100% sure I would have quit.