5 ms·

>people don't want equity as much as they want a living wage. I'd add the caveat that equity is worth more than it isn't so limited in usage for those it is di

>people don't want equity as much as they want a living wage. I'd add the caveat that equity is worth more than it isn't so limited in usage for those it is distributed too. 1 year cliff, 4 year vest, but company likely to just retrench you? Worthless. Developers don't stay that long on average, and the sale terms are basically handcuffs waiting for an exit event. Constant promises of revshare when profitability is reached? Worthless. Cash is king because equity is not only a lottery, but a lottery that you can't even control when you play or get rewarded for it.

ozim 3y ago
People who say: "Anyone giving you a wage while seeking a profit instead of partner equity is taking advantage of you tautologically" assume all startups have huge exit and don't account that equity can actually go down to $0 - that $100 I get today wired to my account does not go to $0 suddenly. Then you might be stuck with equity because there might be no one who will buy it off - or company board won't approve of sale, so you might be sitting on loads of "theorethical cash" that you won't be able to materialize. Still $100 wired to my account - if I can spend it - is not getting voted by company co-owners and if things go south, believe me, you will have a hard time to bail and getting any money back from the equity. Just like lottery ticket, people don't see the downsides only that there is $8 000 000 to win and they hear in the news every 2 weeks someone wins. Where no one is making news stories about people who spend $100 every week for years and never won.
- wahnfrieden 3y ago
  When I say equity over wage I don’t mean no profit sharing either, or no compensation for labor. Go learn about worker cooperative structures in practice. I’m not talking about joining startups on equity alone
  - ozim 3y ago
    My opinion is that getting lower salary for some equity has to be accounted against the fact that equity can go to $0 - yes you might be on ride for unicorn - but most likely not. Worker cooperative structure sounds like a different thing that I usually read about which is people accepting lower compensation for some equity, which is usually bait and switch to get young talents work for less but for "some future unknown riches". Getting equity has to be done with enough due diligence and by people who understand the downsides. People who can do due diligence and understand the downsides will most likely rather get their money in the bank unless it is really good deal to get equity.

ozim 3y ago

People who say: "Anyone giving you a wage while seeking a profit instead of partner equity is taking advantage of you tautologically" assume all startups have huge exit and don't account that equity can actually go down to $0 - that $100 I get today wired to my account does not go to $0 suddenly. Then you might be stuck with equity because there might be no one who will buy it off - or company board won't approve of sale, so you might be sitting on loads of "theorethical cash" that you won't be able to materialize. Still $100 wired to my account - if I can spend it - is not getting voted by company co-owners and if things go south, believe me, you will have a hard time to bail and getting any money back from the equity. Just like lottery ticket, people don't see the downsides only that there is $8 000 000 to win and they hear in the news every 2 weeks someone wins. Where no one is making news stories about people who spend $100 every week for years and never won.

wahnfrieden 3y ago
When I say equity over wage I don’t mean no profit sharing either, or no compensation for labor. Go learn about worker cooperative structures in practice. I’m not talking about joining startups on equity alone
- ozim 3y ago
  My opinion is that getting lower salary for some equity has to be accounted against the fact that equity can go to $0 - yes you might be on ride for unicorn - but most likely not. Worker cooperative structure sounds like a different thing that I usually read about which is people accepting lower compensation for some equity, which is usually bait and switch to get young talents work for less but for "some future unknown riches". Getting equity has to be done with enough due diligence and by people who understand the downsides. People who can do due diligence and understand the downsides will most likely rather get their money in the bank unless it is really good deal to get equity.