If your company is larger than Dunbar's number (150 employees), you have low-level employees making median wage and a fraction of a fraction of a percent equity, it's not impossible to have a high-engagement culture, but it would be close to exploitative and at least unhealthy for them.
But a founder accepting a fatalistic viewpoint on this would be signing their own death warrant. There's no room for fatalism in startups. Rather, good founders need to both bring boundless optimism and work to ensure that there is a means for expansion and reward for employees that continues as the company gets larger.
If your company is larger than Dunbar's number (150 employees), you have low-level employees making median wage and a fraction of a fraction of a percent equity, it's not impossible to have a high-engagement culture, but it would be close to exploitative and at least unhealthy for them.
But a founder accepting a fatalistic viewpoint on this would be signing their own death warrant. There's no room for fatalism in startups. Rather, good founders need to both bring boundless optimism and work to ensure that there is a means for expansion and reward for employees that continues as the company gets larger.