By this metric employee #1 at Facebook should have bailed by now. Seriously?<p>Ultimately this can be boiled down to, "If you don't think your company is going anywhere, and you're not being compensated adequately, then it's probably time to look elsewhere." Which is a step closer to reality, but ignores things like the fact that you might simply like it where you work.
If everything boiled down to money, then it would be simple as simple as the author stated.<p>I would look at it a little differently; people join companies for many reasons, if you are deciding to leave because of money. You probably already made a few errors; choosing the company, in the hiring process by not getting the salary you deserve and during your yearly review not fighting for more.<p>Once you joined the company though, you will most likely be working off your balance of intrinsic desire to accomplish everything you can for the company. If at any point your motivation turns to a purely extrinsic (i.e bonuses, cashing out) it is time to leave.<p>It is a funny thing how different things seem when you are using intrinsic motivation vs. extrinsic motivation. The best way I can explain it is simply: You will walk through hell with seem like heaven when it you are motivated internally vs. even the simplest of task will seem like hell if you are staying to receive a bonus.
This is far too simple. Essentially it is only weighing the financial incentive to stay, and it insufficiently weighs the odds of the startup paying out.