That's a fair point, we'd have to compare projected growth vs. expected salary of new job. Certainly the benefit of working at large tech companies or rocketships.

My experience with smaller startups, was that it's impossible to determine if the options would be worth $0 or $$$.

Consider it similar to diversifying your stock portfolio. By switching jobs every year, you're effectively hedging your portfolio. You're increasing your lottery chances of a unicorn exit, which is where the Big Money is.

Sure, but likely, more of those $100k options will be worth $0 than $200k. If you spread it around, you're more likely to hit big.

Do the vast majority of jobs in these companies actually give you stock options?

Most places I know of do not