| There are a lot of details, but here are some things you should probably understand: - Post-termination exercise window. This is arguably the most important term that many people don't think about. https://zachholman.com/posts/fuck-your-90-day-exercise-windo... - The costs of exercising options. Between the strike price and the taxes, it can be a lot. I've heard of but never used companies like SecFi that help with this. - Whether you have the ability to sell on a secondary market. This might not be an option without approval from the board of directors. - Whether you can early exercise. This can save a very large amount of money (but it comes with risk). - Liquidation preferences. If the company raises $1M and sells for $1M, probably all of that money is going to the investors before any goes to you. - Startups overwhelmingly fail. Every startup thinks they are the exception, but the failure rates say otherwise. I tell people to make sure they can live with that possible/likely outcome before joining a startup. I haven't heard of anyone getting equity with dilution protection (but I'm not an expert). |