[fhbdukfrh]

I agree with you, and this was my initial response when i started reading the post.

VCs also get far more information about the company and can demand way more control. How many employees of a startup get a board seat, even if you're non-founder employee #1?

Even those diversified portfolios aren't going to have huge returns in most cases.

I think the lesson is that if your value proposition is exchanging your skills and time for money (ie, an employee) you can't parlay that into startup style returns without essentially winning the lottery. If you can pick the next unicorn for employment purposes don't waste your talents on actually being an employee

[danenania]

On the other side, as an early employee you can have a much bigger impact on the odds of success than an investor. If you think a company has huge potential, but it's missing X/Y/Z, and you're an expert in X/Y/Z, then you have both a unique insight and unique leverage to make a success out of something that might not have been without you. Looking for situations where you make the difference is perhaps one way to have the whole thing feel like less of a lottery.

[tschwimmer]

I think this is a good point. If you are the ‘secret sauce’ than you may have an edge over an investor. There is perhaps the question of how you know that the company has huge potential with any confidence but I can think of a number of situations where it may be generally indicated. You should also command a stiff premium for catalyzing the company’s success. =)