| Early startup tech employees not only invest their time but also lose out on real money they would have earned at another (bigger) company.

Isn't that by design? With greater risk comes the potential for greater reward. If someone doesn't want the startup risk, they can choose to pursue a job at FAANG. If your goal is to minimize risk, then choose a job as a schoolteacher or the post office. That's the nice thing about freedom of choice.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/charlie-ayers-made-millions-c...

This presumes that early employees are getting a fair shake. In many cases they are being sold a lottery ticket with a value of only a few thousand dollars even when the company sells/IPOs.

Isn't that exactly what "risk" means in this context? Sometimes you get very rich (see the early google/microsoft employees), usually you get nothing or almost nothing. If you don't want to play the lottery there is nobody forcing you to work at startups.

If you were promised 0.1% of the company and the company ends up worth $0, that's just the risk of taking equity.

If you were promised 0.1% of the company then some financial shenanigans with 'dilution' or 'liquidation preferences' mean the company gets acquired for $200,000,000 and you don't see any of it, then you got taken for a fool.

Yes, if you don't know the rules of the game you will often lose because you did not see some (legal) move coming. Investing is the biggest game in the world and big boy rules apply. People who are unable or unwilling to learn how options and startup equity work should not take payment in equity, because they will get cleaned out as predictably as a drunk guy at a poker table.

At the end of the day, any business partner can choose to screw you. VCs/Investors have additional protection by way of retained legal council, clawback clauses and occasionally debt based positions and liquidity preferences.

An employee will simply never have access to that, the fact that it's been normalized for founders/investors to actively attempt to confuse and fool employees will simply drive skilled employees out of startups.

Only of they are paid partly in equity. If they are getting a lower comp package than FAANG because of intangibles they value highly (perhaps developing skills FAANG will pay more for later) that's their choice.