I worked for startups because I really wanted to “get rich”. And, I put way too many hours in trying. In the end, I did get moderately rich. But, honestly, it was mostly from saving and investing well, not from exit events. Unless you play the political game, I doubt you’re gonna get rich from options. And, they don’t write the options contracts like they used to.

When I started working, I made $30k / year, and I loved my work. Now, I make $180k / year, and I hate it. I hate the people mostly, and the politics. Lol. I do have enough to retire early, and I probably will because generally I feel the golden years of software development seem over. I liked it better when it was a bunch of nerds playing with tech - people who loved it. Now, it’s more people who would have otherwise gone into banking. Ymmv.