> Options are nice, but they are not cash and do not belong in the same conversation as salary. Also, options are usually tied to continued employment. If you

> Options are nice, but they are not cash and do not belong in the same conversation as salary. Also, options are usually tied to continued employment. If you leave the company, you will need to exercise your options within a certain amount of time (often, 3 months). This can easily be an outlay of (tens of) thousands of dollars. It depends on the number of options and the exercise price, which is set at time of the option grant based on the then-current 409b valuation of company shares. So at that point you are left with a choice: spend a lot of money to exercise your options and buy a bunch of illiquid common stock, which may or may not be worth something someday. Or, just walk away from the options then and there.