Why not try and work at a actual unicorn startup? One that will probably IPO instead of get acquired where you get jack shit.

90% of startups are shit, but there are some actually good companies out there. I worked at such a company, made a lot of money too when we IPO'd.

Find some that are at series B or so, doing something interesting or new to you, with a good track record beyond just unicorn valuation. Bonus points if the CEO is actually passionate and comes from whatever field they're solving for. AKA not some 23 year old fuck boi.

If they're successful, and the company IPOs at like 10-30x you'll make a good amount of money even if you're employee 500. Enough money to not work for a decade, and you'll be making a lot off interest by then so hopefully you can live a upper-middle class to lower-upper class lifestyle if you do nothing else.

Working outside VC tech is like boomer central critical mass of mediocrity. It is a whole new set of issues (mostly dealing with mid-low tier workers who just cannot work independently or without drama, who will drive you insane if you're an Exceeds Expectations type of person), with little financial upside.