> No one was particularly comfortable answering questions about expected exit.

I also don't think asking founders about their expected exit $$$ is one of the figures you need.

What you need to know is:

1) How many options/shares they are offering you

2) How many outstanding unallocated shares

3) How many total shares in the company

4) Most recent valuation (from funding event, etc)

5) Strike price

These allow you to, among other things, work out the value of your shares today for 83(b) purposes which is important as you would need to paying the tax on that within 30 days of your grant if you want to go the long-term tax efficient route.

While we're on the subject of data startups are reluctant to give, I also need to know:

6) Amount raised to date

7) Runway (psychologically its better to ask for runway and calc burnrate yourself than ask it the other way around)

When I've been in this situation the tact I've used has been "Look, you're essentially asking me to invest in this company too because I'm taking an options/equity stake as part of my remuneration. I need to know the top line figures to make an accurate calculation of the total package

They might want to put you under and NDA to get the above, which is reasonable... just don't sign it unless you are making good progress with your interview

(I tend not to sign NDAs unless it's absolutely necessary and then only at last stage)

I've spent many hours with your team, and we've covered a ton of topics: the technology, the vision, the product, the market, and the opportunity. I'm completely sold on all these points. There's just one area we haven't covered, and that's the positioning and goals of the business itself. I'm in this for the long haul and I think of myself as an investor, so I have a bunch of detailed questions for you about the company's finances and plans. Of course, I realize it's very bad for all of us if this information goes out, so I understand if you need me to sign an (additional) nondisclosure agreement before we get in to it. But knowing this will help me understand where we've been and where we're going, as well as reinforcing my gut feel that what you're offering represents a meaningful stake in this business going forward.

Good luck. ;)

I disagree. You shouldn't trade anything for the information. A company should make the information available if they want the value of the options to be considered greater than $0. You are already considering trading some salary for the options, but the onus is on the offering company to make enough information available to convince you that the options are worth it.

When a potential employer gives you anything they consider "significant" equity (ie, worth mentioning as a major part of your comp plan), they are implicitly discounting your salary to make up for it. If you accept their offer, you have given them salary flexibility without receiving consideration.

In reality, information is very much something that negotiating parties exchange. But, I agree that you should reasonably expect enough information to value your equity if equity is a major part of your comp. All I'm really saying is, make it clear to your counterparty that the lack of information about your equity is raising your negotiating floor. Which, logically, it must.

But I am also specifically not saying, "offer 5k off your salary in exchange for valuation information".

- Which is the most likely exit?: 10 MM, 100MM, 1B, 10B?

- Which best approximates my ownership?: .0001%, .001%, .01%, .1%?

If you can get answers to these, it's probably enough of an anchor to make an assessment. There so much variance in the outcome that additional accuracy won't add very much to the analysis.

EDIT: I should rephrase the first question as:

Which of these is the lowest number that would be considered a good exit?

If asked this way, it should account for the liquidation prefs, since those are normally irrelevant during "good" exits. It should also account for some level of risk, since the lowest good exit may be significantly lower than the actual exit (i.e. 100M would be good, but 1B is possible).