It's an easy equation. Take your salary. If you can reasonably anticipate any bonuses, lump those in, too. Now, add zero. That's what you should expect from e

It's an easy equation. Take your salary. If you can reasonably anticipate any bonuses, lump those in, too. Now, add zero. That's what you should expect from equity. My tally from a little over 20 years in Silly Valley: - Startups: $7K ($11K invested in dud options, $18K in options that were positive a year after the company went public) - Larger companies (Apple, Microsoft): Sign-on and incentive options that paid off well into six figures [yup, I'm being coy -- I'm making a point, not a financial disclosure]. On average you will do better at a large, established company as you gain seniority and people love your work. There are obvious down-sides to this, like having to deal with bosses you hate or sucky office politics, and maybe the company goes on the skids. But start-ups are a gamble. Maybe the risk is worth it, but for late stage, I doubt it. Another way to ring the bell: If you are spectacularly good and play your political cards right you can do something like making Partner at Microsoft, which is worth many millions. Two of my friends went that route. [An informal poll of my cloud of ex-cow-orkers who took pretty much the same mix-up of startups and bigCorps that I did is that they did pretty much as me, or better. A very few did much better and I see photos of their Hawaiian homes on Facebook a lot.] Startups are fun, but they're still gambling, and you have to watch out for a crooked house (like all of your options being 'extinguished' by some fancy financial footwork. Had that happen, too, and the company's worth over a billion dollars now).