> Knowing that the founders had a 10-40x equity stake larger than mine made it nearly impossible to feel invested in the company.

Knowing that you don't have an equal stake in the company makes it almost impossible for the founders to view you as a peer. This is bad for everyone involved.

That.

Until you become a founder yourself and know how hard it has been might change your mind. Otherwise we're all just employees. One big difference is that founders take bold moves and risks. I also consider this is capitalism at work.

What bold move are they taking if they are using other people’s money?

The bold move of starting a company, obviously, rather than working for someone else, like most regular people usually do.

It's not like the money's a gift... you have various metrics presumably that you have to hit once you raise money, especially once you're past the angel/seed stages.

It’s not a gift, but if they fail, they have lost nothing but time - if they are paying themselves a salary.