职业与工作方法blog.samaltman.com
员工股权：Sam Altman 谈期权分配
Employee Equity
2014 — 2015，它一次次回到首页
黑点是上首页（≥ 50 分）的那次投稿，空心点是没冲上去的投稿，点越大分数越高。
导读
Sam Altman 在这篇博文中讨论创业公司员工股权问题：他认为员工股权普遍给得太少，建议提高比例，并批评了 10/20/30/40 的逐年递减授予方案，主张更透明、对员工更友好的期权安排。文章引发了关于期权行权税负、归属结构和员工与创始人风险差异的广泛讨论。
为什么经久不衰：员工股权的行权窗口、税负陷阱和归属结构至今仍是加入创业公司前必须搞清楚的问题，这篇文章提供了来自 YC 顶级投资人视角的基准参考。
HN 评论精选
期权常常一文不值，拿高薪比赌期权更划算
我待过两家创业公司（包括一家 YC 公司），一家是 3 号员工，另一家重写了大部分烂代码，两家都被收购，但期权我一分钱没拿到。我同意作者的第 4 点，但更多期权不是答案——我当初直接要更高薪水反而更划算。创业公司期权比彩票还糟，因为税务麻烦还得自掏行权款。现在我在大公司工作，除非当创始人，否则不再碰创业公司。
jstrate查看英文原文
I've worked at two startups, including one YC. Both were acquired by larger tech companies. I was employee #3 at one and rebuilt most of a broken codebase in the other. I got nothing out of either WRT options. I agree with the author on point 4 but I don't think more options are the answer, I should have just asked for a higher salary I would have been better off. Startup-bucks are even worse than a lottery ticket, because of tax complications and money required to cover strike price. Now I work at a large tech company in SV and wont be involved in another startup unless I'm a founder.
ISO 期权可能因 AMT 税务陷阱让你倒欠巨款，极其危险
我是 Digg 最早的成员之一，买了期权。期权显然一文不值，但我还欠国税局约 12 万美元，可能毁掉我十年的积蓄、退休金和信用。ISO 95% 的时候一文不值，剩下的时候还有一半概率极其危险。我的建议：拿薪水，去买你相信的刚 IPO 公司的股票；如果真要买 ISO，买完立刻卖掉，别信任何没跟你长篇大论讲清 ISO+AMT 税务陷阱的会计师。
philovivero查看英文原文
I worked as one of the very early founders of Digg. I bought my options. Obviously they're worth nothing, yet I owe the IRS about $120k. This threatens to destroy all my savings, retirement, and credit for 10 years. ISOs are not only worthless 95% of the time, they're also actively EXTREMELY DANGEROUS 50% of the time if they're not simply worthless. My suggestion: get a salary, and buy just-IPO'd stocks from companies you believe in. If you find yourself ready to buy some ISOs, I further recommend you IMMEDIATELY sell them, as in have the buyer sitting there with you as you purchase the ISOs, and do the trade instantly thereafter. Take the short term capital gains hit. Do not hold onto them no matter what any CPA or tax attorney tells you unless they can talk at length about ISO+AMT Tax Trap and assure you you cannot possibly have that happen to you.
10 年行权窗口是解决 90 天行权期限问题的最佳方案
我听过最好的方案来自 Quora 的 Adam D'Angelo：授予的期权从授予日起 10 年内都可行权，这几乎覆盖了所有情况。这个主意很棒，Adam 也很有风度。
x0x0查看英文原文
The best solution I have heard is from Adam D’Angelo at Quora. The idea is to grant options that are exercisable for 10 years from the grant date, which should cover nearly all cases That is an awesome idea, and really classy on Adam's part.
递减式归属方案对员工极不利，标准四年归属反而更好
10%/20%/30%/40% 方案的问题在于：如果公司价值大涨，员工可能在两年后被裁掉，拿不到自己参与创造的价值的大部分。这不一定是恶意的，有时只是公司变了、技能不再匹配。作为求职者我绝不会接受这种方案，标准的 4 年归属加 1 年悬崖虽然不完美，但对员工好得多。
birken查看英文原文
The problem with the 10%/20%/30%/40% thing is that if the company shoots way up in value, an employee could theoretically be fired after two years and not capture much of the value they helped to create. It also doesn't necessarily need to be malicious [1], sometimes companies change and a person's skills aren't as valuable anymore. If I were a prospective employee I would never take a deal like this, because it is really difficult to have that much trust in a company and founders that you likely don't know that much about. I can't say the standard 4-year vest with a 1-year cliff is the most optimal situation, but from an employee perspective it is way better than 10/20/30/40. 1: Though it could be, I know there was a story about something happened at Zygna like this
连 YC 顶级公司都不遵守 Sam 自己提出的标准
我在一家按估值排 YC 前五的投资组合公司工作，Sam 文中说的没有一条符合我们：员工股权远低于他的建议、行权期只有 90 天、应聘时拒绝告诉我股权占比，也拒绝透露烧钱率和账上现金。我还是接了这份工作，但看到最成功的 YC 公司一条标准都不符合，很失望。希望 Sam 能强力推动这些公司采纳他自己的建议。
throwaway984890查看英文原文
I work for a top-5 YC investment (by current valuation) and none of the things Sam discusses are true of our company: -Employee equity is much lower than his recommendations. -We have 90 days to exercise options. -They refused to tell me what percentage my equity represented when I applied. -They refused to tell me information about burn rate/money in the bank when I applied. I still took the job, because money was not a primary motivating factor, but it is disappointing to see one of the most successful YC investments fit none of his criteria. He goes so far as to warn readers to "be very suspect of any startup" that doesn't provide this information. I understand that Sam does not personally control what decisions YC portfolio companies make on these topics, but I certainly hope that he guides them strongly towards the recommendations he has made here.
创始人的风险与员工不可同日而语，股权差距有其合理性
关于给员工更多股权：创始人和员工的风险量级完全不同。我创业两年多，是团队里薪水最低的人，推迟了成家，几次用信用卡垫工资，差点破产。员工随时可以跳船，我却要与船同沉。最后如果我运气好，也只能拿到 5-15%。我不是抱怨，这是我自选的，但如今员工在股权之外完全可以拿到很好的现金报酬。
rdlecler1查看英文原文
As for more equity: founders have a qualitatively different risk profile than employees. I've been running my startup for over two years, and I am the lowest paid person on our team. I have to defer having a family and can't enjoy the things that my employees enjoy. I also can't ask my employees to work harder than me, which means I have to work harder than everyone else. A couple of times I had to cover payroll with my credit card and would have been bankrupt if we didn't pull through. If things get tough an employee can jump ship at anytime, while I will be going down with the ship. And at the end, if I'm lucky I end up with 5-15% of the company. I'm not complaining, this is what I signed up for, but employees can be very well compensated in today's market prior to equity upside.
行业实践已演进：递减方案被弃用，提前行权和 83(b) 成为主流
这是篇老文章了。值得注意：10/20/30/40 的授予方案已被证明行不通，聪明的公司已经放弃了；83(b)/提前行权现在很普遍，用好它几乎能让员工股权价值翻倍。ISO 非常有毒。最后一条建议：估值 offer 里的股权时，记住 IPO 通常要求股价不低于 10 美元，反向拆分是常用的达标手段。
choppaface查看英文原文
This is an old post. It's worth noting that 10/20/30/40 grants did not work (duh!!) and companies (at least the smart ones) have moved away from them. It's also worth noting 83b / early exercise is very common now (hurray!) and can essentially double the value of the equity to the employee (only if they can take advantage of it). ISOs are very toxic. One last piece of advice if you're trying to value the equity in an offer: keep in mind IPOs usually require share prices >= $10 and reverse splits are a favored tool to make that happen.
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