> When I told them I was quitting, they offered me a giant (>25%) raise, but I couldn't stomach the thought of staying after accepting another offer You got of

> When I told them I was quitting, they offered me a giant (>25%) raise, but I couldn't stomach the thought of staying after accepting another offer You got offended and walked instead of actually negotiating at the point it seemed they recognized your value. Why the conflict avoidance? You should have asked for what you wanted, pointed to your track record of success to justify it and helped them do the math about how it benefited them. And if you were smart push for something that aligned your incentives with the decision-makers on growth instead of salary. So now the hard part. You use words like "my project" and "helped" which suggests you aren't the only one on the team. And complaining about getting 2% of a company founded by someone else is pretty ridiculous. What you're really saying is that you don't think the company has decent prospects which will make your stake worth anything, which may be the underlying source of this angst.