The point about only founders getting rich is one that is in stark difference to the way Silicon Valley was pre-bust.<p>The first company I worked for went IPO a year or two before I joined.  The very first admin of that company got so rich from stock options that she bought a vineyard and retired in 1999.  Lots of people bought houses with the money they made, including the first engineer who bought a house in prime PA.<p>I joined another startup just a few years ago, and they were extremely stingy with options.  &quot;Less-important&quot; people (ie. anyone non-engineers, or non-management) were getting a few hundred or maybe a few thousand options, which I thought was a bummer.  I think everyone contributes to the success of the company, and everyone should get a chance to do well if the company does well.  But I&#x27;ve seen this case several times where the founders keep everything for themselves.<p>I&#x27;m not sure what changed, but it&#x27;s probably reflective of how greedy and self-centered SV is getting.  It feels like it&#x27;s more like Wall Street and less about classic Silicon Valley, which is a shame.  Go watch &quot;Triumph of the Nerds&quot;, the classic tv special during the dotcom boom and see if you can reconcile the difference of those companies and the ones today.