There&#x27;s no problem either way. If you want that big paycheck, enjoy ad tech or high-frequency trading. I&#x27;m not judging you. 
But if you come into a start-up, both the founder and the employee should be clear that more money can be made elsewhere. The start-up is for someone who wants that romantic lifestyle. They still will earn plenty of money, but no, it won&#x27;t be as much as you&#x27;ll make at [insert-huge-company-here], and that&#x27;s OK.<p>It sounds like Box dude from the story had a very cool experience building a company from 50 people to 1,000. I&#x27;m sorry all he thinks he got out of it are his stock options.