ISO + early exercise + 83(b) election + QSBS treatment is a massive win as an employee. Very favorable tax treatment, but you have to early exercise, when the s

ISO + early exercise + 83(b) election + QSBS treatment is a massive win as an employee. Very favorable tax treatment, but you have to early exercise, when the strike price is equal to the FMV. If it were me, and I believed in the company, I would value the equity highly, but make sure I negotiated a signing bonus or similar that allowed me to early exercise. The 90 day window doesn’t matter in that situation, although I will grant you that everyone’s financial situation is different, and that having to pay for the stock at all is a drawback. You also have to trust that the founders are going to have your back and not screw you. This is a judgment and personality call. Context: sold my company a month ago, all employees with options that had early exercised got full acceleration, and even unexercised optionholders were paid out as if they had exercised and been fully accelerated (though did not get similarly preferable tax treatment, obviously). Treating the employees properly (and well) was a massive part of the negotiation.