[danshapiro]

"at the time Dan Shapiro argued against it" -> and still do. :) To summarize the key points, I think:

- Joel confuses "easy" (50/50) with "fair" (working out the right number)

- It is better to argue yourselves to death early, when nobody else is affected, than later, when people are depending on you

- The expected value of an IOU is negligible because investors usually force you to waive them as a precondition of investing and they go to zero if the company fails

But perhaps I'm wrong. I'm expecting a round of innovation in equity allocation as companies heed sama's advice and try new things. I'm very curious to see how it works out!