[prysie]

To take the CTO role and be the co founder the overall components that make up your package will change, it's hard to provide advice without knowing the rest of the package comments that you gain - but a big part of the structure will be to ensure you have skin I the game to make it a success.

[ctomaybe]

I mean, right now I have about 1% equity and I'd jump to near 10%, so in the event of wild success of the company (let's say a 100M exit) I'd be way ahead, but in the meanwhile I don't think it's responsible to sacrifice the financial stability we're just arriving at. I'm in no position to open deep lines of credit and have no savings, so it's not like those are options.

The way I see it, it's really a timing issue more than anything. If I were a homeowner, I could consider an equity line on my home to cover a couple months of expenses (plus I wouldn't be paying rent...), or if I had a longer credit history I could open a big card with the understanding that I would either have a good exit with the company or leave for a well-paying, more stable job at a larger company at some point and be able to repay the debt either way.

It's just the wrong time in my life to take this risk, unfortunately. It's not even the long-term effects of the risk, either, it's the change to the near-term status quo that I don't think I'll be able to handle.

[jf22]

I'm being blunt here but you should really re-think how financially literate you are if you think taking out debt for a unicorn exit is worth it.

It is not the wrong time in your life to take this risk. This is the wrong risk.

Jeeze, I mean you are saying you're willing to cripple yourself financially, and you are already in debt, I mean... I don't know I'm at a loss for words...

[ctomaybe]

I'm not suggesting that I'm strongly considering the option; I'm merely suggesting that the option exists. I don't like the sound of it either!