Joining startups was a bad decision

Here is how my career has gone so far

2018 -> Graduated from tier 1 college. 2018 -> first job -> scale up -> 0 Esops 2019 -> switched to an early-stage startup -> worked my ass off -> Had Esops. 2021 -> Wanted to ride the high salary wave during COVID -> Joined another startup -> Had Esops 2022 -> 5 months after the previous company, got 2 offers - 1 from Germany and 1 from WFH in India -> chose the India offer because of money. Had Esops. 2023 -> got laid off. Did not buy Esops since the company is sinking. 2023 -> got into freelancing for an AI startup, working my ass off without Esops due to job fear. 2024 -> Here I am regretting my career choices

The only reason I joined startups was to get rich. Meanwhile, I got amazing hikes whenever I switched companies. In the end, I am now left with nothing but a bloated salary and a bloated lifestyle that I am used to.

The reason behind my rant: During this whole period, had I made efforts and joined FAANG companies, which are publicly trading, and got stocks, they would have amounted to much much higher net worth than any of the bets that I took. Do not make this mistake, folks!