It's likely he made enough from the sale of his last startup that he wouldn't care about an exit. Thus, this could be his signal that he's staying in this compa

It's likely he made enough from the sale of his last startup that he wouldn't care about an exit. Thus, this could be his signal that he's staying in this company for the long-run. Since he doesn't plan to sell the company, stock probably won't be worth that much (unless they go public). But a 5-year retention bonus could turn out to be pretty good. This isn't a big incentive for a tech startup employee (who could make $50K from 6 months of stock options). But for the people this guy is hiring, the bonus could be a morale booster and a pretty good deal.