When a large part of the compensation is stock, it's worth remembering that share prices can go down too. Meta/FB is down 35% since September. Many public mid-

When a large part of the compensation is stock, it's worth remembering that share prices can go down too. Meta/FB is down 35% since September. Many public mid-cap software unicorns are down 50%. Smaller companies that IPO'd last year are often down even more than that. If you joined one of these companies last fall and got a $150k base salary + $400k stock grant that vests over four years, your total compensation was $250k when hired, but is now down to $200k after the stock has lost 50%. Of course the stock price may go up again. (But it also may not, as anyone who lived through 1999-2001 remembers.)