Vest Early. Vest Often.
July 4, 2024 — I lived in San Francisco and Seattle in the 2000's and 2010's, and if I told you the names of every startup I almost joined as employee <5, you'd probably think I was lying.
If a startup gives you 1% of the company in the form of stock options, the standard is to vest 0.25% a year for 4 years with a 1 year cliff. This means you get nothing until after the first year.
It sucks for the startups. They miss out on bringing in outlier talent who may stay for a decade, but only want to guarantee a few months.
Back in 2008-2018, I was young and 1 year seemed like an eternity-what if I wanted to travel in 10 months, or someone close to me got sick, or I had my own startup idea?
I also didn't want to have any incentive to sit on my best work until my shares started vesting. I wanted to give my teams my absolute best from day 1.
Historically I knew I would make the most impact at a startup in months 3 - 12, so why I be rewarded less than the person who does just enough to last until month 12?
