[shostack]

And what of the ones that don't get brought on? Do they get anything for their equity typically? For key employees i can see them sticking around, but early hire support staff that may not be needed could still have considerable equity.

[phamilton]

I was part of a fairly large acquisition by a big player. Support types got handcuffs of about $20k over 4 years. Engineers got anywhere from $150k/4 years to $600k/4 years. Some got even more.

This was all independent of equity. Any vested equity was cashed out. Unvested equity converted to equivalent shares in the new company, with the same vesting schedule as before.

[kevinastone]

Most startups use double trigger acceleration for vesting. The first trigger was the acquisition and the second was the termination (not offered a position). So they would vest their entire equity grant.

Of course that implies that the equity is worth anything. Most acquihires are at low multiples so the VCs tend to take the entire price, leaving founders and employees with nothing.

[mljoe]

Even in low multiples typically the VCs creates a decent incentive for the founders to stay at the acquired company (otherwise the acquihire will fail), but they aren't getting filthy rich.

[URSpider94]

I would be curious about "most". My n=1 experience didn't have acceleration terms. In fact, all of my remaining unvested ISO's vanished at acquisition ...

[shostack]

Interesting. And I assume that there's a lot of fudge room on the valuation as well with more of it being shifted towards hiring bonuses for those kept on?

[nihonde]

I like to get a right of first refusal for cofounder share sales so I can block low valuations in an acquihire where you're not getting hired.

[kchoudhu]

If the founders have done their job correctly, it sounds like shotgun agreements will cause the unacquired employees' equity to vest immediately.