

Are stock options a sham? - jwhelan
http://log.burningrobot.com/post/12804688146/are-stock-options-a-sham

======
geophile
Negotiating at the endgame is way, way too late. You need to negotiate this at
the beginning. Specifically, make sure there are no liquidation preferences.
Those preferences might say that, if the company is sold for less than $X, the
investors get their investment out in whole, and then whatever is left is
split proportionally among the holders of vested options.

I was screwed by this once, and have since pressed to have liquidation
preferences removed. Once was in a B round, and the VCs dropped them
completely. Another time I was part of the founding team and successfully
insisted they be removed in the A round.

I've seen VCs argue in favor of liquidation preferences (there was an HN
discussion pointing to a discussion on avc.com). Understandable from their
point of view. You can fight back, but if the investors won't give up on them,
you obviously have a hard choice.

~~~
MichaelGagnon
Agreed. Employers compensate you based on their estimate of your __future__
contributions to profit. Asking for compensation during a fire sale is not
negotiating; it is begging.

------
tomcreighton
Most job/hiring advice and anecdotes on HN seem to be very adversarial.
Obviously this makes for a better story, but why aren't we seeing more posts
about preventing this sort of employee-employer breakdown - i.e. "Don't Work
for Assholes".

Secondly, I'd be happy if my stock options amounted to more than the cost of a
couple rounds of drinks. Expecting to receive high value from something so
nebulous seems presumptuous.

