[goralph]

Options give us 'regular folk' exposure to private equity, which comes with potential for very high (& improbable) returns. As a salaried employee there's really no better vehicle for this kind of exposure. You'd need to start your own business, or play with leverage - which is dangerous.

That said, the common adage of 'winning the startup lottery' is very true. The likelihood of actually (i) joining early enough, (ii) getting a reasonable grant, (iii) having market conditions work in your favour, (iv) the company growing exponentially for years, (v) you actually being able to stay the 3-4 years to vest enough options, and (vi) a liquidation event happening .... is quite low. Most, if not all, of these factors need to happen together.