Dude, Here's another way you might be able to justify a re-negotiation. Think of what value your company will have five years from now if it gets sold/goes pu

Dude, Here's another way you might be able to justify a re-negotiation. Think of what value your company will have five years from now if it gets sold/goes public, etc. Let's say it's $100M; your options are worth $500K. Now think of how much you'd be making if you weren't at a startup. Let's say it's $95K. If you took your $20K and put it in the stock market and earned 7% a year on it (that's almost a sure thing as that's the historical yield on the market), you'd have $115K. Now how likely is it that your startup is going to be worth $100M. Let's say it's 20%. Then your $500K is worth 0.2500= $100K. From that perspective you'd be better off working somewhere else under your current employment contract. I have no idea if these numbers are legitimate in your case, but it could be another way of you getting a better deal. Let me know if you want any more ideas.