Most people don’t actually understand risk reward IMO. They focus on the probability of failure, but completely ignore how big the upside can be if they’re right. Let's say you're working at a crypto company rn. Maybe you're working on the product side and find an opportunity that ends up generating an extra 100k in profit. Nothing crazy, but the point is that, you don’t own that upside. Maybe you get a small bonus or a 10% raise, but nothing biggie. Let’s be generous and say you capture 20 percent of the value you created (you make 20k extra as a bonus). A capped upside. But if you instead have your own crypto company, or maybe you've negotiated with the team you work for to only get tokens or equity as salary. Same exact outcome, you increase profits by 100k. This time you own the result. Since businesses get valued on multiples, tokens, equity, whatever the market is paying rn. Call it 10x. That 100k increase adds 1 million to what you own (equity). For tokens it could be more/less (maybe less in the current market), because it depends on several other factors, but the point is that you're increasing the upside. As an employee, your output gets paid out as a salary. And hell yes, building something or having 100% equity is riskier tbh. But the question is whether the upside is massively asymmetric relative to the risk. I do understand though that people starting out has bills to pay, etc., but if you've been in here for a while and already have a bit of money (or are a risk lover) and considering joining a team, it definitely makes sense to ask for ownership.(Route 2 FI)