[nrmitchi]

> you do have access to stock in companies like Stripe. In exchange for your time and expertise, they will pay you in both stock and cash.

That's not really a fair comparison. There are two huge differences between that and "buying stock".

1. You don't have to jump through arbitrary interview hoops in order to buy stock. I personally had a horrible initial interview experience with Stripe (I 100% don't believe Stripe's process is bad, but my experience was poor). This shouldn't prevent me from buying stock

2. This method of acquiring stock leaves you putting all of your eggs in one basket. You can only work for and get stock from a single company at a time, and you have to dedicate at least a full year to that one option.