Who pays when startup employees keep their equity?

Re:Who pays when startup employees keep their equity? by mikeash on Tuesday July 05, 2016 @02:37PM (#12038538)

The upside is a non-zero chance of becoming filthy rich. Some people are willing to put up with a lower expected value in exchange for that chance. It's a fancy version of the lottery, which many people also play.

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Re:Who pays when startup employees keep their equity? by jsprogrammer on Tuesday July 05, 2016 @03:58PM (#12039082)

You shouldn't be able to influence a lottery outcome. Presumably, you can influence share prices if you work for a company that you have an ownership claim on.

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Re:Who pays when startup employees keep their equity? by madgar on Tuesday July 05, 2016 @08:45PM (#12040540)

Do you actually believe that as a non-founding employee you'll be able to make the difference between the company delivering "a life changing amount of money" to employees instead of the far more common outcome?

I guess the same type of mind that believes meritocracy really exists could believe such a thing...

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Re:Who pays when startup employees keep their equity? by jsprogrammer on Tuesday July 05, 2016 @10:28PM (#12040869)

Do you believe companies can accomplish anything they envision, without employees? Or do you think employees are entirely fungible?

Does my last employer not have a large contract with Prudential, because of my work?

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Re:Who pays when startup employees keep their equity? by madgar on Wednesday July 06, 2016 @09:29AM (#12042907)

> Or do you think employees are entirely fungible?

This is what every self-respecting capitalist believes and knows in their heart. Employees are resources. If a founder doesn't know that they will fail.

Maybe you thought startups were an exception and that startup employees are unique snowflakes but BigCo employees are drones?

> Does my last employer not have a large contract with Prudential, because of my work?

If that contract is what made the business viable, then the company must be completely fucked without you and be on their way to failure. If the contract didn't make a substantial difference in the company's outlook, then how does that relate to my point?

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Re:Who pays when startup employees keep their equity? by landryraccoon on Wednesday July 06, 2016 @05:50PM (#12046115)

Have you worked at a small startup before?

> If that contract is what made the business viable, then the company must be completely fucked without you and be on their way to failure.

In any startup with <5 employees if an early employee leaves it's a huge risk to the company that may result in bankruptcy or failure of the company. Engineer #1 is as important as a founder in the startups I've worked at.

If there are 3 founders and 2 non-founder employees, then typically each employee is doing (approximately) 20% of the work. Not many small companies can just shrug off losing 20% of their workforce.

> This is what every self-respecting capitalist believes and knows in their heart. Employees are resources. If a founder doesn't know that they will fail.

I hate to be rude but WTF are you talking about? I've known several successful startup CEOs and they keep good employees close and well taken care of. For one thing, startups usually fail, so you're going to have to keep your good employees open to working with you on your next attempt, and if you keep treating them like slaves/resources they won't come with you to your next venture. Second, how are you going to recruit new talent if your reputation as a founder is that you treat your employees like interchangeable "resources"?

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Re:Who pays when startup employees keep their equity? by jsprogrammer on Wednesday July 06, 2016 @01:27PM (#12044576)

It was a consulting firm trying to break in with a larger client, so they had to move to other projects. Last I saw, they were working on Android projects.

>Maybe you thought startups were an exception and that startup employees are unique snowflakes but BigCo employees are drones?

No, I just don't think anything can be done without people and that one person is not the same as another.

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Re:Who pays when startup employees keep their equity? by sokoloff on Tuesday July 05, 2016 @11:39PM (#12041057)

"make the difference" alone? Probably not.

Did I "positively influence the outcome" in the company I work for? Almost assuredly.

Of course, this is coming from a mind which does basically believe in a meritocracy, so...

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