By motivated, do you mean working for less than I was worth, or perhaps a time when I added more value than I was paid for? When I couldn’t accurately value my

By motivated, do you mean working for less than I was worth, or perhaps a time when I added more value than I was paid for? When I couldn’t accurately value my options in my total comp, I realized that was the point. The only time I have been motivated was when I was on or working with a great team. The very best were indie consultants who were all paid consultant dollars. The next was doing startup consulting to prove a concept. Equity that isn’t measured in a percentage of the company with transparency on prefs is at best, %99.9 of the time just a tax liability. It’s negative compensation. Ask yourself, is what you do so magical that someone would give up partial control of their company for you to perform it? If you are not a cofounder, not an investor, not the key customer rainmaker what do you do? More so, if they don’t have the money to pay you, consider the long tail of clowns who do get funding , then why there isn’t money or why aren’t you worth it. Most people take options because they are just happy to get the job and it makes spousal conversations easier. This latter reason I suspect is the most valuable one of all.