You join and are granted 400000 options at $10 strike and stock is worth $10
2 years in and the stock price is now $110
You think the company is terribly run and the stock with crash at this point. However if you quit, you lose the 200000 unvested options worth $2M on paper
Even if the stock crashes to $20 they are worth $200k
Hard to find a better paying job in that situation until the options are fully vested
I mean, you can take it quarter by quarter. If you get your vest and (even if you sell them immediately) the value is worth it to you, you'll probably stick around for another quarter to get the next one.
You don't just say on day 1, "I don't think the company is going anywhere, but I'm committing to staying another 4 years".
You join and are granted 400000 options at $10 strike and stock is worth $10
2 years in and the stock price is now $110
You think the company is terribly run and the stock with crash at this point. However if you quit, you lose the 200000 unvested options worth $2M on paper
Even if the stock crashes to $20 they are worth $200k
Hard to find a better paying job in that situation until the options are fully vested