I think it's a specialist question. All of this assumes you have leverage to get what you ask for. If you are concerned about a company you work for making a

I think it's a specialist question. All of this assumes you have leverage to get what you ask for. If you are concerned about a company you work for making a lot of money after lots of VC rounds: You would probably have to get warrants, written by someone* who is really smart. If you think the company won't need to do many rounds: just look for stock (if you're in really early, e.g. grant+zero-value-83b election still applies) or options (if you're in after the really early stages of the company). *Find a great accountant who internally has tax lawyers to help you negotiate.