[nickcarraway]

People worked for equity long before the 90's. A lot of U.S. companies bootstrapped this way, going back to before the last century.

A friend of my Mother's who lived next door in the 70's, went back to work for a local junior college after her kids went to school. Two guys in their twenties who were trying to make computers, but had absolutely nothing, asked her to help them out, and do the work for equity. Those two guys were Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. She was their first employee before there was an Apple. Was she a fool? Maybe, but she isn't complaining.

[Hank Rearden]

A friend of my Mother's who lived next door in the 70's, went back to work for a local junior college after her kids went to school. Two guys in their twenties who were trying to make computers, but had absolutely nothing, asked her to help them out, and do the work for equity. Those two guys were Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. She was their first employee before there was an Apple. Was she a fool? Maybe, but she isn't complaining.

And I used to work with a guy (who is in most of the books on the early history of Silicon Valley and the hobbyist PC revolution) who passed up the opportunity to do exactly the same thing with Steve and Steve. He stayed at his desk until he retired. Then he died.

His story gave me the insight to always examine *every* opportunity that comes along.