I ask because when you are one of the first ~20 employees you get a meaningful percentage, like say 0.1%. In that case the value goes up with the value of the company. .1% of a company that's worth 200M is $200k, which vesting over 4 years is... $50k (obviously strike price, company actually still existing, etc, are factors)

When you work at a big company like Google, you get a regular amount of equity compensation that translates directly (via public markets) into dollars, say $50k, every year.

But if you join mid stage... you usually get a number of options which translates to a very small portion of the company. Like even if the company had a unicorn IPO, it might only be $10-$20k.

I wonder if there's some kind of bridge that's typical between the startup state (where there's a sizable option pool to hand out) and the Post IPO state (where RSUs are handed out as a big chunk of compensation)?

I think the answer to all your scenarios is: It depends on the company. Some companies (regardless of size) give refreshes, some don't. For those that do, some do it discretionary based on performance, some just hand a little to everyone. Some companies give options, some companies give stock. Some companies give "thanks for working here you're so great".