I've worked for six companies, won the lottery once, and it was life-changing. I'm not bringing this up to brag or to suggest that it's common, but to point out that it is possible.

And frankly I think as time goes on it has become and will become more possible for more people. In part because of people like you who bring up all-too-common stories of how their founders got big payouts, but their employees only saw breadcrumbs. As more and more employees become educated on this stuff, the more pressure it puts on companies to offer better deals to their employees. We have a loooong way to go before my experience is common -- if we do ever get there -- but I do think it's possible that we could get there.