[jballanc]

> The other way to do this is just to value equity at $0.

I've worked for startups that gave me stock options, and I've worked for consultancies that have done profit sharing. In every case, I came away with $0. Options can be diluted away and profit sharing is subject to accounting tricks.

The only time I received stock and made money from it was when I worked for a large, established, and very profitable company.

Another thing to consider is that any reward with a vesting schedule will cloud your judgement on when is the right time to jump ship. The advice I was given was that in your 20s you ramp up your income fastest by taking new positions at new companies, and in your 30s the best way to increase your income is to advance within a single company.

I think a good target would be to take a new job every year or two in your 20s, targeting a 15-25% increase in salary each time. However, given that most options have 4-year vesting schedules, that essentially means forgoing stock based compensation until later.

[tptacek]

I walked away from what turned out to be a pretty significant pile of money by not purchasing my employee options at the last startup I was an employee of. I don't regret it and would still advise against people putting actual dollars down on private company options, but options ending up worth something are not a myth.