It's not quite as straightforward as you're implying either. If you graph the total value of an employee's shares over time, dilution drops the value of that gr

It's not quite as straightforward as you're implying either. If you graph the total value of an employee's shares over time, dilution drops the value of that graph. You can say after the fact "look, after six months your total share value was higher than it started" but it doesn't change the fact that that graph has a big drop somewhere in it. If share price is constantly growing, dilution is always a bad thing for an employee. The pretense that they care about what percentage of the company is owned is specious. The real reason employees should put up with dilution is because the share price doesn't always grow. Sometimes, the company runs out of steam and it drops to zero. They should put up with dilution because it gives the company a better chance to end up profitable and for their shares to be worth anything at a liquidity event.