Startup Stock Options – Why A Good Deal Has Gone Bad (2019)

Re:Startup Stock Options – Why A Good Deal Has Gone Bad (2019) by cik on Monday December 21, 2020 @07:32AM (#25494313)

I work with startups because of the array of possibilities - none of them monetary. I've never cared about shares, and mentor folks to do the same. If you do what you love you never work a day in your life. But if you chase the pot of gold, you have to hope there's always sunshine after the rain.

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Re:Startup Stock Options – Why A Good Deal Has Gone Bad (2019) by ClumsyPilot on Monday December 21, 2020 @07:36AM (#25494336)

So if people enjoy there work we don't have to compensate them competitively?

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Re:Startup Stock Options – Why A Good Deal Has Gone Bad (2019) by cik on Monday December 21, 2020 @07:59AM (#25494498)

I don't see how what I wrote led to this assumption. It's just that I don't value the shares in a startup - ever. I value the salary side, and enjoy the interesting work.

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Re:Startup Stock Options – Why A Good Deal Has Gone Bad (2019) by caust1c on Monday December 21, 2020 @09:34AM (#25495264)

Work at a startup in a field you love with coworkers who also pour their blood sweat and tears into the company, only to have the founders fail upwards and employees left with nothing. Then you might feel differently.

Founders shouldn't be exiting with massive rewards when the risk they took was only marginally higher than early employees.

Yeah, I enjoyed my time there and I learned a lot. But a mismanaged company shouldn't reward the management and leave employees with nothing after all is said and done.

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Re:Startup Stock Options – Why A Good Deal Has Gone Bad (2019) by cik on Monday December 21, 2020 @01:30PM (#25497805)

Been there, done that several times. Everything has risks, I've optimized for the ones I'm comfortable with.

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Re:Startup Stock Options – Why A Good Deal Has Gone Bad (2019) by hajimemash on Monday December 21, 2020 @09:31AM (#25495231)

To many people who value $$$ to get other important things in their life, shares are a meaningful factor in their expected value from devoting their life to a job.

So when you say you don't work at a startup for monetary reasons, and that you don't care about shares, which has an expected value of real money despite the uncertain outcome, it's natural to wonder if you don't care about compensation aka money.

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Re:Startup Stock Options – Why A Good Deal Has Gone Bad (2019) by johannes1234321 on Monday December 21, 2020 @08:05AM (#25494541)

The compensation has to cover the needs/expectstions. See Maslow's hierarchy as a simple model.

Pay me a million for something I don't care about in a bad environment and I won't do good work.

Pay me 50k (I make more, but 50k is a good value for a good living here in the region) and let me do something I like in a fun environment and I get things done.

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Re:Startup Stock Options – Why A Good Deal Has Gone Bad (2019) by srtjstjsj on Monday December 21, 2020 @08:36AM (#25494776)

Why are we talking about good work? Whether the work is good isn't the employee's problem. I'd love to get $1m/yr for bad work, so I can put that money to good use.

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Re:Startup Stock Options – Why A Good Deal Has Gone Bad (2019) by Ygg2 on Monday December 21, 2020 @07:53AM (#25494454)

See gaming industry.

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Re:Startup Stock Options – Why A Good Deal Has Gone Bad (2019) by ClumsyPilot on Monday December 21, 2020 @10:57PM (#25502698)

Abusive work practices, regular crunch time and underpays for talent?

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Re:Startup Stock Options – Why A Good Deal Has Gone Bad (2019) by Ygg2 on Wednesday December 23, 2020 @04:49AM (#25516065)

Yeah, thanks to everyone wanting to work making games.

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