[crumblan]

As you say, I did mean preferred stock. You caught me before my edit :)

I still stand by the assertion that investors are looking for something different than the typical employee. It seems to be a large risk for a large reward; I don't want to presume to speak for you, but usually investors are both looking for a large exit that an employee will not really benefit from, and can be involved with many companies at once to minimize their risk.

I definitely agree for investors that the startup you pick is more important than the stage its in when you pick it. But that's still involving a significant chunk of the stock even in later rounds. Ultimately, unless the employee is getting a large chunk of the company (in which case he should think as an investor and would be wise to go for YC companies) the decision process should be different.