Hey friends - Over the past few weeks one topic keeps coming up in conversation, on Twitter and in person - how should startup employees think about startup equity? It's an important question where seemingly small structural differences can have massive implications for long-term value. Hopefully, this letter gives you a more nuanced understanding that helps inform your future decisions. This is the guide I wish I had.
A solid rundown of different structures, as sort of an equity-comp 101. But the question most people have a very hard time assessing is, what is a fair award for an employee, based on role, seniority, and company maturity? The best analyses and summaries of what is "market rate" for that are many years old, in some cases a decade old. There's just not a lot of info on that out there, and I think you'd be doing a big service to compile some ranges and discussion of that.
A solid rundown of different structures, as sort of an equity-comp 101. But the question most people have a very hard time assessing is, what is a fair award for an employee, based on role, seniority, and company maturity? The best analyses and summaries of what is "market rate" for that are many years old, in some cases a decade old. There's just not a lot of info on that out there, and I think you'd be doing a big service to compile some ranges and discussion of that.