4 ms·
I've always seen equity/stock as an incentive to work my ass off, nothing more. They equate to nothing more often than not.
by joshmn 11y ago
I've always seen equity/stock as an incentive to work my ass off, nothing more. They equate to nothing more often than not.
- sundaeofshock 11y agoI've found cash to be an acceptable incentive to work my ass off. Stock options are the equivalent of lottery tickets.
- cmrdporcupine 11y agoI've always found a cool project, friendly and open team members, good project planning, and an atmosphere of fun as the only effective incentive to work my ass off. Money is great but has never been sufficient to induce inspiration for me.
- rifung 11y agoWhy are those things an incentive to work your butt off? I see why those would lead to you being happy at your job, but I don't really see why being happy at your job means you should work extra hard. Just curious, as it seems to me those are things which would make someone stay at their job for a long time but not necessarily work extra hard. After all, it's not like your not working extra hard would lead to losing to those things.
- icebraining 11y agoSome people work extra hard when they really enjoy what they're doing, such as those athletes that dedicate their whole lives to a given sport.
- jschwartzi 11y agoI'm this way too, but I also need to feel mentally challenged by the work. When it becomes effortless I'm ready to move on. This usually takes a year or two for me.
- walshemj 11y agoYour biggest loss on lottery tickets is your stake.
- mywittyname 11y agoOkay, so stock options are really expensive lottery tickets.
- dguaraglia 11y agoI don't know. I think if you truly believe in the product you are building (as opposed to "just having a job", which is a perfectly valid position) having stock options is a good motivator. I know it's not possible to predict 100% of the time which startups are going to "make it", but it's definitely not rocket science to filter the crappy ones out. As a rule of thumb: don't count on your stock options being worth millions if you are leaving a job for a better opportunity in a product you like better. Your actions are saying everything you need to know about the value of those options.
- gsibble 11y agoSo wait, you're saying that something that "equate[s] to nothing" is "an incentive to work my ass off". See, this is why companies use worthless stock options in the first place.