Isn't 500k+ TC on the upper upper end of the salary distribution though? Vs equity in a rapid growth 20% CAGR or somethin? Or hypergrowth that caps out around 2M ARR?

I guess I'm just trying to gain some career perspective on this heavily bootstrapped startup I'm at thats targeting the alt-thread-mentioned "medium sized traditional industry that has ancient, crummy software with a target customer employee size of 50 - 1,000 people." and whether it's really worth it for me

I wonder how the probability of securing such a job - with huge layoffs lately and increased competition - compares to the probability of business success. There's unemployed engineers grinding at system design and algorithms 10 hours a day for at least half a year to get an interview. If I'm going to spend hundreds of person hours on something, I think I'd rather start a company to be honest. Additionally, internationally those levels of pay are incredibly rare.