You're completely right—to be fair, the company I was referring to is giant and likely has several months' worth of things to learn, which is very different tha

You're completely right—to be fair, the company I was referring to is giant and likely has several months' worth of things to learn, which is very different than joining a startup. But even if a one-year cliff seems excessive for most companies, I still don't think there's anything wrong with a cliff of some sort. Maybe 6 months makes more sense for a medium-sized company, but there's still a breakeven point for new hires, and unless you're one of the first 5 or so employees, that point is probably somewhere between 3 and 9 months. I don't think it's unreasonable for companies to want to pay less during that "trial" period; if you don't like it, join a different company, or just hold out until your equity vests.