> Being generous and parting on good terms is desirable The desirable part might be what happens to the morale of the rest of the team. A possibly vindictive

> Being generous and parting on good terms is desirable The desirable part might be what happens to the morale of the rest of the team. A possibly vindictive boss is going to be on the mind for everyone who is still there and delivering value - you also risk dividing your team's opinions on this topic ("so unfair" vs "good riddance"). As with a lot of startups with a handful of employees, often what an employee thinks they are getting is some percentage of "possibly nothing" & the person might also have come to the same conclusion before underperforming. So you might be getting some brownie points with the team, the person getting thinks they're getting nothing of value(but not that you're yanking it out of their hands) and the cap table is not going to be affected anymore than hiring someone & them booking it out on the first vest, which happens.