This information asymmetry is also solvable at the company level and IMO, good founders have a obligation to fight to educate engineers who are thinking of join

This information asymmetry is also solvable at the company level and IMO, good founders have a obligation to fight to educate engineers who are thinking of joining a startup. I'm not saying you're wrong at all -- most typical startup ISO offerings suck and are not good situations for employees. That said, as a founder who custom designed our stock plan to be as employee-friendly as we could, there is a better way when actually done right and not just "following the standards". Stock plan improvements like super long post-termination exercise, offering RSAs instead of just stock options, and most importantly in my opinion, adequately educating your employees on the risks and return possibilities of their equity! While many employees' eyes will glaze over a bit if you start citing tax code, helping them get the basics and fully internalize the risk/reward tradeoff is both doable and necessary!