Upon vesting, any employee can exercise one share and become a stockholder. It's a great way to see the books, too.

But your tone in treating employees and shareholders was very antagonistic. The vibe in startups has always been "we're in this together." Not, "I'm the boss/investor and you're the cog."

Not trying to be antagonistic, but precise. You say "upon vesting" which makes the assumption all employees are granted options. This is not the case. I don't see anything wrong with simply being a payed employee, receiving a fair salary for the work performed. If someone wants to be guaranteed a shareholder position, they absolutely can! By starting a company of their own. That is the beauty of our economic system. Not everyone is entitled to ownership at their place of work, nor should they be.

Most full time employees at VC backed companies will receive stock comp as part of their compensation.

you make a good point.

I think the 'vibe' is part of the problem. It's somewhat dishonest.

Why do all companies need to be 'family?' Can't we just respect each other as we get the job done and go home to our actual families? The 'company culture' is a ruse to get employees to have loyalty where the company does not reciprocate.

reminds me a bit of the blog post: <https://www.yegor256.com/2015/10/06/how-to-be-good-office-sl...