Here's an alternate way to look at it:<p>You're at FAANG making $250k salary (plus equity). You love the <i>idea</i> of a startup, but dropping to $150k salary + 1% in equity over 4x years isn't entirely appealing. (Setting aside starting your own.)<p>At the same time, you have a network of awesome, capable people who want to start their own business. These people are motivated, scrappy, and enjoyable to be around -- i.e. the traits YC looks for, which you can recognize. You'd help them for "free" anyway.<p>So take the delta in salary ($100k), and invest $50k @ $5M cap for 1% ownership into two startups a year. Four years on, you've got 1% in 8 companies with <i>preferred</i> stock & no vesting. Your net cash salary is equivalent in both situations, plus you earned equity in FAANG. You get to live vicariously through your entrepreneur friends, avoid startup FOMO, and relish in the relative comfort of a FAANG employer.