What to take away
- 1.Answer four questions in order: shares, strike, current valuation, vesting.
- 2.Never negotiate equity verbally — write the number down within 48 hours.
- 3.Refresh grants are a retention instrument; the original four-year grant is not.
Equity conversations go wrong in one of three ways. The founder talks valuation. The founder talks dilution. The founder offers a percentage instead of a number.
What candidates actually want to know: how many shares am I getting, what is the strike price, what is the current 409A or local equivalent valuation, and what does the vesting look like. Answer those four. In order. With numbers.
Do not negotiate equity verbally. The moment you say a number, write it down. Send the term sheet within 48 hours. Verbal equity offers create disputes that survive into the next funding round.
“Verbal equity offers create disputes that survive into the next funding round.”
Refresh grants are the conversation founders avoid the most. The original four-year grant is a hiring instrument, not a retention instrument. By year three you need a written refresh policy or you will lose the people the original grant attracted.
Try this Monday
- List every team member's cliff date and grant size in one spreadsheet.
- Identify the next three cliffs — schedule a 30-minute conversation each.
- Draft a one-page refresh policy, even in rough form.
The systems angle
Tracking who is in what vesting position, when refreshes are due, and what the implied annual comp looks like — this is exactly the data Aire surfaces in one view.
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HR Asia on equity conversations. The line I needed: do not negotiate equity verbally. The moment you say a number, write it down. Verbal equity offers create disputes that survive into the next funding round. https://hrasia.co/founder/equity-conversation
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