"Everyone knows if you're not a founder, you aren't getting stock that's worth working for peanuts." Which is precisely why parading it as a perk makes the ad

"Everyone knows if you're not a founder, you aren't getting stock that's worth working for peanuts." Which is precisely why parading it as a perk makes the ad bad. A great startup should publish their stock option agreements. Let people see how great it is. "psst, I'm gonna show this secret agreement, don't tell anyone else what it says..." After all this time of so many thousands of startups, we've finally gotten to a point of having a library of startup contracts, investment contracts, etc... You should be able to say "We use Law Firm X's published stock agreement. Its well vetted and easy to understand." If you want to attract great talent, show them the money!!! Transparency Rules!!!