I disagree with the common advice here that all stock options are worthless. You say the company is late-stage. Assuming it's currently valued in the $100M ran

I disagree with the common advice here that all stock options are worthless. You say the company is late-stage. Assuming it's currently valued in the $100M range or more, I would estimate your upside to about 4X, maximum. Worst case of course is 0. So take the price of your options today, multiply by 4: that's the best case scenario of the one-time bonus you'll be receiving about 3 to 6 years from now. Does the amount sound interesting to you? How does it compare to a slightly higher salary (that you get every year for many years to come)? If the valuation of the company is much lower (<$50M), then the potential upside is larger (say 10X), but much less likely (higher risk of being worth nothing). That's when it gets really tricky to decide. In the end, it's all a function of where you are in life: can you afford the risk, what is your current cash flow, savings, etc.