[robocat]

> you might as well value it at zero

That is the usual advice. The median return for common shares is $0 (most startups fail).

Founders can screw up their own ownership https://grayscale.vc/blog/how-that-safe-note-is-screwing-you... and there is no way most people can understand the cap table value without a lawyers help.

Also you have no influence over future rounds, so a good equity deal now could easily be worthless in the future (or even worse, negative returns due to taxation on paper gains that subsequently disappear).

Concentrate on your other benefits, whether you think the founders and investors have integrity, and whether you think the market opportunity might be a winner.

[eschneider]

No big disagreements here. The numbers are mostly useful in determining if the equity offer is "fair" or at least matches how the company has described it. That goes to their integrity.

[robocat]

A great writeup on common stock binary value outcomes: https://siliconhillslawyer.com/2017/08/01/not-building-unico...