[aferreira]

Regarding the question of knowing what percentage of total equity your stock grant represents, most companies that are not incredibly early stage will simply not tell you.

Pushing the subject further will make you look like you're nosing around where you shouldn't, often leading to the offer being dropped (this has happened to me).

Not to say it wasn't a not-so-great company to start with, but a dropped offer is a dropped offer.

[minaguib]

That really makes no sense.

"Here are options to buy 10,000 shares"

"Umm. Thanks. Is that a lot ? Is it peanuts ?"

Without knowing the second number you might as well not be having that discussion.

[aetherson]

Yeah, it's crazy. But it's super-common. I always ask how many shares are outstanding, and nobody ever has the information at hand. It's like they said, "We're going to give you 10,000 units of some currency. But we won't tell you whether it's a Zimbabwe dollar (current value: $0.002) or a Euro (current value: $1.38)."

[lauradhamilton]

A reputable employer will tell you what percent of the company the stock represents.

Simply knowing how many shares you were granted without knowing how many total were issued tells you nothing about what your shares are worth.

If a company wants to issue you shares as compensation but won't tell you how many total are outstanding, run.

[fishtoaster]

I was lucky that my first job was upfront about what I was getting (%, # options, and outstanding shares). I like to think that I have enough confidence at this point that I would refuse a company that wouldn't tell me what me equity is worth.

[joeframbach]

I kept pushing, and wasn't told. I ended up leaving not long after. I should have left on the spot.