I don’t think the issue is that working at a pseudo startup doesn’t pay enough while a real startup does. Startups almost always pay less than big companies. Even most of the successful ones. For a worker, the pseudo startup is a great option. You get a high base salary, and a large stock grant, and the high growth stock we’ve seen at a lot of the big companies over a reasonably long period. By the end of your vesting, your $125k cash + $75k RSU = $200k/yr has (using apple growth, which is reasonably FAANG representative) grown to $125k + $245k RSUs = $370k/yr assuming no promotions and a linear vest.

Equity does build wealth, and BigCo equity does it much more reliably than a real startup.