negotiate-equity-compensation

# negotiate-equity-compensation ## When to use - Use with written grant terms and obtain qualified tax, legal, and financial advice. - Do not treat headline share count or company valuation as guaranteed value. ## Procedure 1. Identify instrument, issuer, entity, shares or units, class, and ownership denominator. 2. Review price, vesting, cliff, acceleration, performance, expiry, exercise, and forfeiture. 3. Obtain plan, grant, cap-table basis where available, valuation, preferences, and liquidity terms. 4. Model dilution, tax, exercise cost, exit, termination, and zero-value scenarios. 5. Compare cash, equity, risk, concentration, and personal liquidity. 6. Request specific changes or information and confirm final documents. ## Failure plan - Value unresolved or inaccessible terms conservatively, including zero where appropriate. ## Worked example A large option count has a short post-termination exercise window and high exercise cost, changing the negotiation priority. ## Done - An equity comparison report records instrument, quantity, denominator, terms, documents, scenarios, advice needs, asks, and decision - Entity, class, valuation, dilution, tax, vesting, exercise, termination, liquidity, and final-document checks verify understanding