Worthless, or nearly worthless, options are very, very common.
The last options I exercised and did get paid out... but in the end, I didn't even make back enough to make up for the pay cut I took. Financially, I would've been better off taking a different job. At least I "had fun' and "got something" though.
The quotes are there because it's basically a cliche. Every startup is "fun", right? Okay, I did actually have fun... at least for the first year or so.
