Ask HN: How much equity should I ask for?

But 18k doesn't sound far off the salary I'd expect an inexperienced junior dev to make. Things that might get you a higher salary for this kind of role are a degree or prior experience. If you have prior working experience (even freelance) then you probably are getting a little too low.

First, very few startups can accurately tell you "If we're acquired for $50MM, your options would be worth $Y." Heck, for fun, ask a founder of a typical angel or venture-backed startup how many shares it has outstanding fully-diluted.

If tons of startups struggle to describe what their capital structure looks like today, why should prospective employees rely on them to make estimates based on what their capital structure will look like months or years from now? Dilution, liquidation preferences, the option pool, acceleration terms. There's so much that can't be predicted or controlled, so asking a company to come up with exit scenarios for specific employees is like asking a blind man to read tea leaves.

> The other way to do this is just to value equity at $0.

At most early-stage startups, this is the correct approach to dealing with equity. There are very good reasons most vested employee options are never exercised.

This doesn't mean that the OP shouldn't ask for some equity, but focusing negotiations around basis points of equity and trying to assign a future dollar amount to equity is generally a bad idea for the average employee because it opens the door for treating equity as a 1:1 (or close to 1:1) substitute for salary, which at early-stage startups it is not.

If an early-stage startup wants to offset your cash salary with equity, try this: ask for $50 to $100 worth of equity for every $1 of salary offset. How the company responds will likely tell you a lot more about its future than if you ask what it guesses 1 option will be worth 4 years from now.

Here's a different perspective for you to consider: most founders or hiring managers at early-stage startups don't have the ability to convince a reasonably skeptical person why the company's equity will ever be worth anything. It's basically a matter of faith. Most startups aren't going to have an outcome that delivers wealth to employee shareholders. You either believe that the company has the opportunity to defy the odds or not.

You say you are learning a lot, will have a good deal of responsibility and like your co-workers. In other words, it sounds like you're pretty happy and pleased with the prospect of continuing your employment with the company. A lot of people, even those who have maximized their compensation, are unhappy in their jobs, so you have something money can't buy.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't protect your financial interests and ensure that you're fairly compensated. But ask yourself what you stand to gain or lose from taking negotiations down a path that will ask your employer to convince you that whatever equity it offers you could be worth something.

The most important part of any negotiation is to determine what it is you want and need. Far too many people fail at negotiations because they don't do this. As a result, negotiations become focused on things that don't matter. You might win such a negotiation, but still come out a loser.

You like the idea of minor equity stake, ostensibly because you want to feel invested in a business that you're excited to be working for. If that's the case, you could do a lot worse than to pick a number, and tell your bosses you're really excited about the company's prospects and want to feel invested in its success. Chances are you'll have a far better outcome than putting your bosses on the spot and demanding that they predict the future.