[fatnoah]

In this case, the drop is literally 50% in W2 income, as I went from a public company with RSUs to a startup. In the previous job salary was higher and RSUs were a decent amount, even after stocks tanking. Startup equity is decent, but that's more of a lottery ticket than anything else.

[pcthrowaway]

Don't you have to pay taxes on any options you exercise, which comes out of your (now lower) base pay?