Although well-compensated by any rational standard, startup employees often take pay cuts compared with what they could receive at Facebook Inc. or Google. They join knowing a chunk of their pay is tied to the fortunes of their employer and could become worthless. What many workers hadn’t bargained for was how long they’d have to wait to find out what would happen. With the exception of Snap Inc. and a few others, technology companies are waiting much longer to go public than in the past, and the ample funding available from private investors at generous terms have made mergers a less attractive option. As a result, exits have been cut almost in half from their high in late 2015, according to the Bloomberg U.S. Startups Barometer, an index that tracks private markets.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-15/uber-gives-restless-employees-a-way-to-cash-out