Dylan Taylor equity advice has a simple premise: stop asking for a bigger pay cheque and start demanding a slice of the company instead. Taylor, founder of space-technology firm Voyager Technologies, says the principle applies whether you are a fresh graduate or a seasoned executive.
Taylor became a millionaire at 27, five years before Warren Buffett reached the same milestone. Born on 23 October 1970, he built his early fortune running public companies across electronics, finance and banking, while also investing in real estate and a range of firms including Robinhood, Relativity Space and Calm. Voyager Technologies subsequently listed on the NYSE in 2025, according to his LinkedIn profile, and the returns from that and earlier investments have made him a billionaire. Fortune reviewed a summary of his financial records, which verifies that status.
Why Dylan Taylor equity advice targets Gen Z specifically
‘I think it’s very difficult to make a lot of money working for somebody,’ Taylor told Fortune. ‘There’s two different ways to make money: income and equity. Whether you’re an employee or a founder, I think you should push for more equity and less income. That’s really what compounds over time.’
He says he applied the same logic throughout his own career. ‘I always wanted equity as opposed to higher base salary,’ he said of the deals he negotiated early on. ‘I think that ended up being very wise.’
Crucially, Taylor argues this is not a tactic reserved for senior hires with leverage. Even someone 24 years old and a few years into their career can raise the question, he says, and most managers would respond positively.
‘If someone came to you and said, “I actually want to make less money, but I want more of the value we create together”, I think most bosses, assuming they’re not totally insecure and see this person as a threat, would welcome that,’ Taylor said.
Managers who cannot approve equity outright, he adds, can escalate the request. ‘They might have to run it up to the next level, but from a company standpoint, it makes a lot of sense, too. With equity, you only really pay on success.’
Not every employer will say yes, but the question is worth asking
Taylor acknowledges the strategy does not translate to every sector. ‘If you’re working for an industrial valve company in Newcastle, I’m not sure you’d be able to do that,’ he said. ‘But if it’s a tech company, they’re issuing options, so there’s no reason why you can’t ask the question.’
A refusal, he argues, is still useful. Workers can follow up by asking at what point equity eligibility kicks in. ‘I think it really reframes you in their mind,’ he said. ‘It’s like, this is someone who’s focused on creating value.’
Taylor’s second piece of advice is a barbell investing strategy: keep the bulk of savings in a stable asset and put a smaller portion into something higher-risk. ‘As crazy as it sounds, you’d have 70% of your money in the FTSE 100, and 30% in Bitcoin,’ he said. ‘It seems crazy, but I think those strategies work.’
Taylor is not alone in the equity-first camp. Martin Mignot, the first investor in Deliveroo and now a partner at Index Ventures, made his first millions before 30 by backing European start-ups including Revolut, Trainline and Personio. His advice mirrors Taylor’s. ‘It’s about owning equity, that is the key,’ Mignot previously told Fortune. ‘The best career accelerator you can have is joining a Revolut, Robinhood, or Figma early enough.’
For those whose employers offer no stock options at all, Ramit Sethi, author of I Will Teach You To Be Rich, recommends automating investments into a low-cost index fund and leaving them untouched. ‘Timing the market is for suckers,’ Sethi told Fortune. ‘Treat your investments like a Thanksgiving dinner. Put the turkey in the oven, close it, and let it cook for the next 30 years.’
Voyager Technologies’ NYSE listing in 2025 gives Taylor’s arguments a live case study: the returns he describes from equity held since his twenties are now a matter of public record.
