Anyone join a startup that actually paid a fat check at exit?

I feel that no threads actually tell people whether or not going the startup route from VC or something actually paid out. If anyone has experience 1. Starting and successfully exiting, or 2. Joining a startup at an early inflection point and actually seeing the payout of equity can you comment. Was it worth it versus staying in IB/PE? I assume the only reason someone would truly want to work at a Preseed or Series A/B is to give up some comp perks to get an equity stake and hope on a fat payout, is this actually a reality? Has someone joined a 10-man shop, gotten a meaningful % and exit with a ridiculous check?