First, 2% is a lot. It&#x27;s more than any senior employee is likely to get after year 1-2.<p>Second, if you&#x27;re doing equal split and you have three cofounders, without a cliff you&#x27;re talking about someone who might walk away with 8% of the company without even having spent a year there. CEOs of companies routinely get significantly less than 8% of the company.<p>Finally, the &quot;no cliff&quot; risk happens <i>all the time</i>. People leaving after less than a year is practically the default setting. I&#x27;m sorry, but as often as malfeasance among founders happens (the fact that it&#x27;s newsworthy when it does is suggestive), it&#x27;s not the default.