That very much depends. If the equity is a part of the payment and you're a co-founder it is not rare to make out very well in the longer term. If a company is already established then equity (usually in the form of options) can be a substantial component of your compensation.
Funny how you should know more about me than I do.
The company meanwhile has grown in to something very respectable, and even though I haven't been a shareholder for years (bought out many years ago) I never regretted my decision one bit. It was an established business in a different trade when I got there, they decided to pursue this crazy idea (putting photographs on membership cards and print them with laser printers).
Yeah I don't get this either. I mean sure, you don't want to work for equity in something you don't care about. But I would LOVE to work for equity in some of the local start-ups around here.
I don't mind giving my time for no up front compensation and in exchange growing a really awesome idea or prototype into a lucrative business with a viable exit!
One of the biggest problems we are trying to solve right now is actually the problem of disconnect between business idea-generator types and programmers / engineers.
I know too many programmers that are good, but don't have ideas. So they go work for big firms. At the same time I know many entrepreneurs who's only roadblock to funding is a technical partner.
A coder is useless if he can't negotiate term sheets, get funding, and scale a business. Likewise an entrepreneur is useless if he can't code.
I think matching these people up via equity is exactly what we need to be doing.
Doesn't it suck watching a project you were paid 20 grand for rake in upper six figures going into the second year? I think that 5% equity is looking pre-tty good then.
