This was really common during the first Internet bubble – I remember being on the phone a number of times with a whole room full of people worked on a household-name .com and realizing that maybe one of them had more than a superficial understanding of how the web or commerce worked. Several people basically stated that they were just killing time waiting for the IPO.
The thing I remember is that while at the time most of them were worth a lot of money on paper, it was only about a year later that they were all unemployed and the hoped-for riches had vanished along with a huge cloud of VC funding.
I'm not personally cut out to be a complete mercenary but it seems like if you are it's critically important that you pay a lot of attention to timing your exit. Unless you have a high chance of getting so rich that you won't need another job, you really need more than that to take to the next gig.
The thing I remember is that while at the time most of them were worth a lot of money on paper, it was only about a year later that they were all unemployed and the hoped-for riches had vanished along with a huge cloud of VC funding.
I'm not personally cut out to be a complete mercenary but it seems like if you are it's critically important that you pay a lot of attention to timing your exit. Unless you have a high chance of getting so rich that you won't need another job, you really need more than that to take to the next gig.