Many tech startups find ways to reward their initial complement of employees with stock in their nascent venture. As and if the company succeeds, that stock award often renders these folks wealthy beyond their imagination. (Our firms were tech-type firms; we never went public, but did award phantom stock to our initial crew- and continually to our key staff. It was a way for those folks to garner benefits as we grew. [OK. We did have one firm that almost went public, but the underwriters absconded with the funds. All we were left with was egg on faces- and a series of discussions with federal and state regulators.])