Ask HN: Am I being fooled at a Dutch startup?

A couple years ago I started working for a Dutch startup. I was offered an equity package, but didn't think much of it at that time. After going through a couple of funding rounds, well, I started looking into it. The Dutch structure is called STAK and is basically a company-in-a-company without any voting rights. Currently it is about 6% of company stock divided among 10 employees. I'm still very well aware that it could be worth 0 EUR in the end. I also very well aware of tricks being played by investors and engineers being squeezed out of their faire share. Since money came, it all about scaling up and getting a good exit.

A month ago I (and the other engineers) were finally able to sign the original STAK equity contract. It was apparently an additonal contract. This might be negligence on my side, but I simply didn't know. The equity package and vesting scheme is briefly mentioned in my initial contract. In this new contract the vesting scheme changed and included a lot of additional company and personal goals to be achieved. So it is not only time-based now. (it was said this was for tax reasons). Due to this it makes it a lot harder to vest any additional stock (about half would probably impossible to vest).

I'm on good terms with the founders and I think it is possible to renogatiate this. But I don't know where to start. I read a lot about equity packages at American startups, but this probably doesn't apply for my situation. Can anyone offer me advice - What to do best? - How do I make sure what I vest, I really do vest and they don't change the rules again? - Is it worth anything (even after an exit). - The additional goals were set because of tax authority rules (is this a straight out lie)?

First rule of con artists, poker players and startup founders: if you can't tell who the sucker is, it's you. Doesn't matter what they promise you, it's all smoke and mirrors and they can take it away or make it worthless any time they like. Negotiate the best salary you can, and don't give up a single cent of that monthly money in the bank against some empty promise of future riches. You already suspect they're lying to you, don't lose any sleep over it, just ask yourself if the monthly salary is worth the work you do and if not, go somewhere else.

Hire a lawyer if you are serious. No advice here will compare. Hire a lawyer who specializes in work with venture funded startups.

No, but I'm looking for a law firm that has experience with funded startups

You usually have the option to buy newly issued shares pro-rata and at the same valuation as the other buyers, but I've never seen shares that can not be diluted (essentially that would mean automatically issuing and assigning shares to one or more shareholders without the issuing funds being paid and afaik no notary public will sign off on that, shares need to be paid into the proper vehicle).