People keep telling me that a straight one-year cliff on equity vesting is "standard." Maybe so, but in most cases, I think it's pretty stupid. Anyone sacrificing current compensation for equity should think hard before accepting it.
And regardless of what the legal provisions say, companies should not let people work for them for extended periods of time, and then dump them right before the first vesting date. This is just wrong. As I have written elsewhere:
Startup companies, the people who work there, and those who invest in them all may be said to be part of a startup community. I realize that “ecosystem” is the more popular buzzword of late, but ecosystem puts me in the mind of lions eating gazelles, whereas “community” evokes human beings working together. A community is a setting in which people look out for their own interests but also value the well being of all of the members of the community. A community should have norms of behavior, and people who violate those norms should suffer reputational consequences. Letting someone work for you for a long time, and then firing them right before a vesting cliff, should violate those norms.
If you don't know what cliff vesting is, or want to understand my views, check out my full blog post here.
