Say someone joined a company at a very early stage, just when it secured its seed funding and there were only 6 employees. Today out of those 6 first employees there is only 1 more that has stuck around, meanwhile the company has grown to over 100 employees and has raised enormous amounts of funding and are planning to be very profitable.
Now say you have generated the company millions upon millions, have been an integral process in making this company the success it is today and you are not recognized nor promoted for your work, hired over and feed the left overs of those hired from the outside
Is it worth sticking around for 2 more years to let your options vest when you know the most you will ever make is half a million to a million?
What would you do if you were this person? Is having a job alone good enough in this economy?
No, you probably won't make any money at all. Early stage employees get screwed the hardest. You either want to be a founder or a "key hire" after the company gets series A.
What would you do if you were this person?
I left, twice. Was it the right decision both times? Yes.
Is having a job alone good enough in this economy?
Well, that's a different story. Probably. It truly is a shitty job scene out there right now. I can't tell if you hate your job or you're just bummed about how the politics and finances have played out. It's probably worth locking in something else before you quit.