Yeah but after each "validation round", the stock option grant for new hires becomes 0.1x before the validation. Kinda sucks to join right after Series A, get a

Yeah but after each "validation round", the stock option grant for new hires becomes 0.1x before the validation. Kinda sucks to join right after Series A, get a tiny % (say less than 0.1%) of the company even after 4 years of grinding away, and even then the company doesn't go public so your options are still worth a tiny % of... zero. Right now it only kinda makes sense when you join as a co-founder (at most seed round; definitely not post-series-A), or pre-IPO.