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Honestly, I wouldn't bother with the equity. They want you to write code - think of it like a job - you are not a co-founder.
At this stage you're not going to get shares, unless they really want you.
What you should be getting is options (with strike price at current/last valuation).
Think about how likely is the exit and where you expect the value to be in 5 years. For example, if company doubles in value, you will get to exercise your 1% for €200k and sell it for €400k (assuming there was no dilution). Not bad, but probably not the life changing event you were expecting, you can get roughly same value by getting a salary that is 40k/year higher with lesser risks.
Of course it gets very different when you expect the valuation to grow 100x. But that requires way more than simply expanding into another country.
Personally, I wouldn't sweat it. Be grateful they are not trying to force you to take equity in lieu of compensation, as any shares/options you do manage to negotiate are more than likely going to end up worthless, if not due to business failure* then due to dilution. Or, in some cases, embezzlement. This thread from a couple of days ago had a lot to say on the subject: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34084354 J…
This is a perfectly fine company which has been around for 10+years and already received a couple of acquisition offers, AFAIK.
> site I'm going to rewrite I personally wouldn't expect a CTO to spend too much of their own time on building a website. Usually the CTO works more in a strategic capacity, ensuring the company is spending time on things that matter and that projects are on track. If the website-project does have a very high impact on the business and you're fine with taking this type of position, then you should emphasize the value…
> I'd rather have shares At this stage you're not going to get shares, unless they really want you. What you should be getting is options (with strike price at current/last valuation). Think about how likely is the exit and where you expect the value to be in 5 years. For example, if company doubles in value, you will get to exercise your 1% for €200k and sell it for €400k (assuming there was no dilution). Not bad, b…
How would it be different from them giving me 0.5% instead of 1% but at "face value"?
> I'd rather have shares At this stage you're not going to get shares, unless they really want you. What you should be getting is options (with strike price at current/last valuation). Think about how likely is the exit and where you expect the value to be in 5 years. For example, if company doubles in value, you will get to exercise your 1% for €200k and sell it for €400k (assuming there was no dilution). Not bad, b…
You're assuming that it would be valued 40M at exit, right? How would it be different from them giving me 0.5% instead of 1% but at "face value"?
I doubt they can just give it to you at face value. Are there other employees that were incentivized with stock/options? Were there investment rounds? Were you with the company from the beginning?
As a CTO, you can be entitled to higher compensation (both cash and stock), but not special treatment.
Big tech in USA is paying that as salary