[hnbroseph]

> One guy chose 100% equity, and is now retired.

being able to choose 100% equity would suggest a particular level of financial independence before even starting. how long did they work without a salary? did they regularly sell equity as a salary-replacement?

[chucksmash]

Or perhaps a working partner and a willingness to get by on one income. Know a couple who did this in NYC for a couple of years on non-dev salaries and the trade-off definitely opened doors for them.

[underwater]

How is this any different from taking your entire paycheck and dumping it into a single stock each month? It's effectively a gamble, and often employees are too emotionally invested to make a rational financial investment of that scale.

[jedberg]

It was a gamble, but we had a lot of leverage because we got major discounts with pre-tax money.

[jedberg]

He lived off selling his Google stock, where he worked before Netflix. :)