Well, some companies don't make enough to pay you market value;

but, the company I worked for was not paying higher wages for the newer employees than myself and I got pretty regular, pleasant raises.

Why would I sacrifice my finances because a company that didn’t have a business plan that allowed them to pay their employees market value? If the owner’s sold the business would they give you part of the proceeds?

I bet they talk about the company “being like a family”, don’t they?

Well, let’s see. We did hackathons and competitions with nearly all employees in the company and many of the hackathons resulted in products or internal changes that went on to live in production and help grow the business. I had stock in the company, as well, so my improvements to the company could impact my own money.

It remains the best company I’ve ever worked for. Small and my opinion and actions actually had real impact to core features of the company, so :)

Worth it, I think.

Now if you have significant equity in the company, that’s an entirely different story....

I didn’t have significant equity. I had a few thousand dollars.

I did have direct influence into huge and important parts of that business, though and I really, actually was respected and given broad rein in what I could do. My coworkers and I also tended to have a great time working, and I had direct lines to the CTO. We talked often.