What can YC do to help? - Provide transparency in the form of data, particularly into outcomes. For a typical YC graduating startup, what % of them have an exit within 4 or 6 years? What is the distribution of outcomes for a 1% common stock holder? Only then can engineers properly value their options. Founders will typically multiply the equity by the last funding valuation or $1 billion and claim that is how the employee's options should be valued. Only someone like YC has the access to do this type of analysis. - There's a lot of incompetence and bad behavior by founders that investors and outside board members don't see. If you really want to understand what is going on, always have an inside channel. You should also provide these inside channels to all interested board members and investors. Not everyone is willing to do talk but someone usually is and ex-employees are usually willing to. You don't have to always do something about it but failing to talk to employees and only relying on founders to tell you what's going on is just sticking your heads in the sand. - Options are broken. No employee should be required to fork out $50k to buy something that (1) they already worked very hard for, (2) potentially has no value, (3) will completely forfeit if they can't come up with the cash in a month, and (4) may even have to pay additional taxes to acquire. There are a few ways YC can help: (a) Establish a standard among new YC companies docs, stating that employees should have up to 12 months after termination to purchase the shares. Better yet, establish a standard such that employees should be allowed to keep vested options and not exercise until a liquidity event, no matter when that might be. If you guys set that standard, then maybe other companies may follow suit. (b) Advocate a change to tax laws so that exercising options does not have such negative AMT tax consequences, except when there is a liquidity event.