Guide

Growing your career

Evaluating startup offers

Separate cash, equity, runway and scope. A large option grant is a probability distribution, not a salary.

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Startup offers are not "big tech minus cash plus lottery." Separate the pieces: cash you can live on, equity you understand, runway you can sanity-check, and scope that is real rather than a title.

Concept

Equity is a probability distribution, not a second paycheck. Learn the instrument before you romanticize the percentage. Read employee equity and burn and runway.

Walking through the pieces

Cash. Can you live and save somewhat sanely? Underwater on rent while "believing in the mission" is usually a bad trade.

Equity. Understand instrument (ISO/NSO options vs RSUs), strike, vesting, refreshers and dilution. A large option grant on a flat round with heavy preference stacks may be worth less than a smaller grant at a healthier company.

Runway and stage. Roughly: how many months of cash at current burn? What is the next milestone that unlocks financing or revenue? Ask for the narrative; then sanity-check with public comps and your network.

Scope and title honesty. Early startups often hand out inflated titles. Optimize for responsibility and learning; translate titles when you leave.

Example

Offer A: $180k cash + liquid RSUs at large co., team with strong manager, moderate scope. Offer B: $140k cash + 0.15% options at Seed, 18 months runway claimed, you would own the entire backend.

If you have savings and want scope, B can be rational. If you have debt, dependents or need a visa-stable employer, A may dominate even if B "sounds more exciting." Run the personal constraints first; then the equity fantasy.

Strategy documents that ignore constraints are fiction. Visa / work authorization can make "just join a seed startup" impossible or risky. Location and remote policy affect learning density and lifestyle. Dependents and personal runway change how much equity variance you can absorb. Health may rule out chronic on-call for a season.

Before a high-variance bet, write the downside: "If this fails in 18 months, what do I leave with?" Skills, savings, network and a clear story. If the honest downside is empty, renegotiate or decline.

Common mistakes

  • Romanticizing %. Preferences, dilution and strike can make a "big" grant small.
  • Ignoring cash. Mission does not pay rent.
  • Inflated titles as the reason to join. Translate them when you leave; optimize for responsibility.

Check yourself

  1. What four pieces do you separate in a startup offer?

Cash, equity instrument, runway/stage, and real scope — not the title.

  1. Why might 0.15% at seed be worth less than a smaller grant elsewhere?

Flat rounds, preference stacks, dilution and a short runway can crush the distribution.

Key takeaways

  • Separate cash, equity, runway and scope.
  • Learn ISO/NSO vs RSUs, strike, vesting and dilution before you celebrate %.
  • Personal constraints dominate the equity fantasy.

Further learning

employee equity

Next: when to switch jobs.

Career strategy

Choosing companies, teams and specialties deliberately: big tech vs startups, generalist vs specialist.

Employee equity

Options vs RSUs, strike prices and 409A, vesting and exercise windows, and how to evaluate a startup offer with ownership math.

Burn, runway and default alive

Calculating burn and runway, the default-alive test, and how to extend runway.