Skype’s Worthless Employee Stock Option Plan: Here’s Why They Did It
I once heard some advice worth remembering from a lawyer: do not sign contracts on the basis of trust for the counter party, because they are your counter party <i>today</i>.  For long-term contracts, when you actually have a dispute several years down the road, you may be dealing with a totally different set of actual people.  People change jobs.  Companies get bought.  Cultures and personalities drift over time.<p>Your contract will not, ordinarily, adjust itself just because the guy who promised that Odious Clause X was boilerplate that would never be held against you has left the company and been replaced by Scrooge McStealYourEquity.  Don't give Scrooge the opportunity.  Get exactly what you expect to have happen to you written in the contract.<p>P.S. Relatedly, your discount rate is probably too low, and you probably overestimate your odds of a liquidity event <i>and</i> the upside potential.  Your employers will act to encourage this.  Get paid in cash as much as possible.