The solutions manager did not mention equity, and I didn’t ask. I did not know that early access to equity was a reason people joined private companies at the startup stage—that it was the only way anyone other than VCs and founders got rich. I did not even know that equity was an option. The company’s in-house recruiter would eventually intervene, to recommend that I negotiate to include even a small stake. His rationale was simple: all the other guys had some. No one told me how much it was worth, or how big the pool was, and I did not know to ask.

High on the feeling of being professionally desirable, I told the solutions manager I would sleep on it.