Startups can make you rich!*
Most college grads want to start their career in a startup for the growth potential wrt learning and exposure and not so much for the money aspect (at least that's what they say during interviews :D ).
While it is true that budding startups are not the best paymasters, it is also true that most startup success stories have made the ones who trusted them (including employees) millionaires and billionaires.
Some quick stats:
- When Facebook acquired WhatsApp in 2014 for $16 billion, all the 55 employees of WhatsApp became millionaires - source.
- Since its inception, Infosys has helped thousands of employees become millionaires by giving a whopping INR 50,000 Crore worth ESOPs (Employee Stock Option) - source.
- In 2018, Paytm's ESOPs buyback program created over 200 millionaires - source.
- Freshworks got listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange on September 21st, 2021 and around 500 employees (approximately 80% of the total strength) become millionaires - source.
- 18 Zomato employees became millionaires after Zomato got listed on National Stock Exchange (NSE) in July - source.
100+ Flipkart employees became millionaires after the Walmart acquisition. Swiggy's buyback program helped some of their employees become millionaires, 1/4th of MobiKwik employees, 118 of them, become millionaires in September, and the list goes on and on.
While it is unfortunate that most startups fail, those who survive all the drama and make it to the top, take their colleagues along.
So, how can you become a millionaire in a startup? Suddenly even this simple question became a million-dollar question, hahaha! I'll share my thoughts on this soon.