There's a reason that the standard equity vesting schedule is four years with a one year cliff. Great people will stick around if they feel that their equity i

There's a reason that the standard equity vesting schedule is four years with a one year cliff. Great people will stick around if they feel that their equity is valuable even if they can get more cash/benefits/perks/responsibility/credit/fame/fortune/whatever elsewhere. If you're not handing out equity, then you need to compete on all those slashies. It's a competitive market and every employee is a free agent.