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Comment by Skeletor | Hacker News Reader

This is kind of along the lines of what the senior people at the company were telling me. That you have to believe in the idea of the company and have faith that they will take care of employees and want you to be 110% committed to making the company a huge success by giving you a generous equity package.

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Don't fall for that. If the company wants to see if you are a good fit before hiring you they should hire you as a contractor and pay a good hourly rate. Which from my experience in the Bay Area is at least 75 bucks an hour for 40 hours a week.

This "try before you buy" contractor meme is awful. 1099s are responsible for their own payroll taxes and their own health insurance. If a company suggested that I relocate for the opportunity to consult with them, I'd hang up the phone. It's insulting.

(Obviously, I mean, as a half-measure before extending a full-time offer. If a company suggested that Matasano consult for them, we'd thank them and then make it happen.)

The consultant/contractor would likely be to avoid payroll taxes/withholding/processing fees with TriNet etc - not to avoid giving equity. (And, technically, it's illegal to "pretend" someone is a contractor when they're not - but that's a separate issue :)

Remember, this is all at-will employment - either of you can end the relationship at any time. This is where an equity grant/option with cliff vesting comes in. 4 yrs with a 1yr cliff is fairly standard... In other words, if you get fired or leave before 1 yr, you don't get that equity/option and it reverts to the company.

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