Always protect against the downside, your partners probably are

I've heard far too many horror stories of people joining companies only to be screwed out of their jobs and their shares very close to their vesting cliff. In every case I've come across, the victims are engineers. Why engineers? Because they trust too easily.

So, I'll put it plainly: If you join a company, are accepting lower base compensation in exchange for higher equity, and if that equity has an initial cliff, usually one year, then you need to protect against the downside of getting fired (or laid off) earlier than the cliff.

How do you protect against the downside? Negotiate a severance that will pay you at least three months' salary for being laid off before your cliff - do this before joining the company!

Without a severance, if you are let go, you'll have to go find a lawyer and shell out even more of your income.

One other thing: the moment you go to business with a friend, you are business partners first and friends second. Especially if they want you to come on board at a lower salary in exchange for equity which does not start to vest right away. Everything they will tell you - that their contract is the same way, that this is standard practice - is meaningless, because they are just protecting their downside!