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Comment by anm89 | Hacker News Reader

My advice. Make sure you have the exact same class of stock that the CEO holds. That way you know the decisions they are making are designed to maximize the value of stock and there is not a conflict of interest.

My assumption is that if I have a class of stock that is different than that of the executive team, it's worthless. I've learned this hard way.

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You're not generally going to be able to negotiate share classes in serious companies.

100% true. However, in evaluating the offer, understanding whether you’re getting the same class of shares or not is germane. (In a startup small enough where an employee can meaningfully negotiate their grant, it usually is.)

Agreed. I assumed this is an early stage startup. I should have been more specific. This advice only applies in that scenario.

Even if you have the same class of stock, vesting, good/bad leaver provisions and strike price make that a false comfort. Remember that you don't typically get stock itself but rather options to buy stock.

However if you _don't_ have the same class of stock that _is_ a pretty good sign that you're going to be last in line.

This is pretty standard anyway (the founders and employees all have common stock while investors get preferred shares – and that's only after a priced round).

CEOs can change the class of their own shares, this happened even with Google. I wouldn't think of this as any guarantee.

Not in all cases.

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