That sounds dysfunctional, not at all normal. You've given a ton of power to your employer, with no position for you to have any recourse. This sort of plan act

That sounds dysfunctional, not at all normal. You've given a ton of power to your employer, with no position for you to have any recourse. This sort of plan actually incentivizes the board to fire all current employees, especially those with the most "promised" equity. I can't imagine ever agreeing to a situation like that, unless I could confidently say that, assuming I got no equity (which likely will be the case), it's still a better deal than my alternatives.