The moment for me when I realized that options were bullshit was when I got a story about how “we wanted to give you a bigger raise but it’s not in the budget, so here’s $3k less and $3k worth of options”
As if options had a value.
As if options had a value.
$100,000 in options sounds great but if it’s .01% of options then you’ll have to be part of a monster IPO or sale to get a windfall.
Always insist on the % amount. Most founders will try not to share it.
Also options are a % increase in share price play, so $100,000 strike price can at least give you some information wrt how much $ you can make if the per share price of the company triples, etc.
It's not always better to know % and % only. Let's say you get 1% options of a company valued at $10B. Options are priced at the preferred price, no discount. The company IPOs at $10B. Did you make $100M? Nope you made $0 so far!
Perhaps. But if a company will not give you a percentage of ownership and expects you to accept this as compensation, you should quit. Full stop.
If the company won't tell you how to fairly evaluate your options, they're operating in bad faith, and should not be rewarded for their sleazy behavior.
The important principle, though, is that they shouldn't be hiding anything from you. If the company won't even tell you the percentage your shares represent, you can't trust them to do anything else.
From a financial perspective, what you want isn't $1,000 worth of options, but a _risk-adjusted_ $1,000 worth of options. Which means in all likelyhood, more like $100,000 worth of options.
Oh, the company doesn't want to give you that much? Well then, "Show me the non-risky money."
But I don't think managers understand that while options might make people stay while things are going well, they make them flee (or worse, stay and become resentful) when things are clearly not going well.
If you reward someone for their service you have to do it right or don't bother at all. A reward that loses its value, is delivered late, or requires the recipient to nag you constantly to deliver at all, has negative value for the person. 'Thanks for nothing' is not something you want to hear from an employee. It crushes motivation.