You’re not wrong. It’s more like you have an opportunity to get inside information on a company when you are interviewing. If the company sounds like it’s just plodding along and they’re on a series Q down round, maybe that’s less valuable than a startup that is about to blow up in the good way with a still modest valuation. You probably can’t tell if something is a diamond or a polished turd, but sometimes you can smell an actual turd. All stock options are a lottery ticket, but maybe you can pick the lottery ticket with the best odds compared when comparing them to the other options.