Employees get a reasonable fascimile of a market salary and the perks commonly afforded employees in your region&#x2F;industry <i>with probability equivalent to the sun rising in the morning, as of day one, for every payroll period until they&#x27;re formally separated from the company</i>.  If this describes someone&#x27;s situation, they&#x27;re an employee.  If not, they&#x27;re probably a co-founder (or being horrifically exploited).