5 ms·
Another reason why it's kinda plain dumb to work as a non-founder employee at any startup except those on a clear exit path. Founders enjoy too many benefits a
by kzhahou 11y ago
Another reason why it's kinda plain dumb to work as a non-founder employee at any startup except those on a clear exit path. Founders enjoy too many benefits and advantages. If the company succeeds, they become megarich while you cash in a nice bonus. If a founder underperforms, only rarely does a board take immediate action -- in sharp contrast to employees.
And like you said, employees vest slowly, while founder is usually vested on day 1.
- greglindahl 11y agoI've been a founder twice, I had a vesting schedule for options and for founder's shares. Our investors insisted on it, for obvious reasons. We insisted on it because we wanted out founding team to play nice.
- URSpider94 11y agoThanks, I was going to say I thought this was the usual case, but I don't have direct experience. It's only fair to have founders vest too, so a co-founder who walks out after the first month doesn't walk away with a third of the company!
- URSpider94 11y agoVesting shares or options makes you an owner in the company. Especially for a start-up, you want to keep the number of owners as small as you can. There's a valid business reason not to hand out stock with every paycheck. You want to make sure people are in it for the long haul before you give them an ownership stake. If you're worried about fairness, you could bridge the time pre-vest with a cash reward, or offer a pro-rated cash payment if you quit or are terminated before the 1 year mark.
- meric 11y agoYou could always play hard ball in negotiations and insist you receive market salary plus a little extra for working in a risky company. Could work if you're that good. Then invest that money as an angel in other companies or buy stocks and get megarich doing that.