I disagree. The cliff is merely another aspect of risk to the stock-based compensation portion of the package. Personally, I don't put much value on it to begi

I disagree. The cliff is merely another aspect of risk to the stock-based compensation portion of the package. Personally, I don't put much value on it to begin with, since even half a percent is a bit skimpy given current exits. Of a $48million exit, it's only $60k extra for that cliff year. It's not pocket change, but it's not an insane risk. If the chance of an exit is 20%, we're down to $12k. I'd rather have that $12k in salary plus a cliff than the other way around.