A lot more founders and employees are heavily diluted than you think. I always just assumed massive exits meant people were rich.

But when I calculated out how much an exec would make for a diluted $1B exit compared to working at FAANG for the same amount of time... FAANG turned out better many times (unfortunately).

I think preventing dilution should be one of the highest priorities for founders for themselves and for retention. Every single dilution event sets the outcome bar higher and, thus, harder to achieve.