Anyone joined scaleup during growth phase and it payed off?

So I’m part of a growing enterprise scale-up—high complexity, interesting work, good base, but the culture is still kinda shitty and not really set yet.

I’ve had a pretty good experience with the pace of growth; it’s my kind of speed. The CEO sometimes gets carried away, but overall it’s okay. One downside is that our engineering lead and his team just aren’t pulling their weight.

I know most would say to run as fast as you can, but I’ve got a permanent contract in a niche industry with lots to learn. My role is quite unique, and getting things moving means being involved in a bunch of different areas.

Has anyone else experienced a payoff? Like, did the stocks after an IPO go insanely high and let some people retire early? I’m in my mid-30s and, despite everything, it’s still fun and probably the best years of my career so far.