> Their primary interest is in getting me on the team, (and I suspect eliminating future competition) not the product or technology per se. > I'm mostly trying

> Their primary interest is in getting me on the team, (and I suspect eliminating future competition) not the product or technology per se. > I'm mostly trying to determine a dollar amount assuming I also get 10-20% of their company and a small salary. Given those two statements (and without knowing any details), my instinct would be that you'd effectively be joining their company as a sort of late-arriving co-founder. On that basis, my advice would be as follows: 1. Decide whether you want to become a co-founder of the company. They key thing is whether you want to join that team and work with those individuals. 2. Don't expect to receive a large dollar amount. It's not an exit - it's an acquihire. You want to find out how much the co-founders are getting paid and use that as a benchmark for your salary. 3. Do make sure that you do full due diligence - you need to see the cap table and understand what terms all the existing shareholder (including the founders - e.g. vesting schedules) and investors (e.g. any preferential terms) have. I'd be wary if they were reluctant to share any of that information. It's not unreasonable for them to ask that you sign an NDA. Get a lawyer to review any document they want you to sign and talk you through what it means. In fact, it's not a bad idea to get your own NDA drafted up and put it forward to them. 4. Be clear on what your role will be going forward. You don't want any hand-waving or "We'll sort that out later." 5. Ensure that everyone's expectations (including both yours and the other company's investors') are clear and aligned. Don't make any assumptions. Lay everything out in painstakingly explicitness. 6. Make sure that you're protected in case things don't work out. Basically, think about what could go wrong. Will your equity be subject to vesting? What happens if they fire you before the vesting period is complete? If you want to go into specifics, I'd be happy to talk further on a confidential basis. My contact details are in my profile.