Options vs. Cash
I started off once thinking &quot;yay, X% means I get X% of the company!&quot; and then I found out the shares can be diluted. Then I learned &quot;non-dillutable&quot;.<p>Then I learned about vesting periods, windows for exercising options, and a whole slew of financial terms and devices; each one seemed to come with its own unique &quot;gotcha&quot; that, if you didn&#x27;t know about, would cost you nearly everything.<p>Everyone I talk to about these always says &quot;well, don&#x27;t do that one thing, or if you do that one thing be sure you do it in this way and you&#x27;re set&quot;.  The cumulative knowledge you need becomes pretty high pretty quickly though, and the chances of me doing the right legal and financial incantation at the right moment becomes lower.<p>Nowadays I go with cash.  I don&#x27;t get &#x27;golden handcuffs&#x27; that hold me to a job I don&#x27;t like because it might pay off later. I can calculate the expected value and risks with cash without tons of research. I know my legal recourses if I get screwed out of cash.