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Salary Negotiation

Negotiating Startup Equity vs. Cash: What to Say to the Founder

Joining an early-stage startup requires balancing immediate cash needs with long-term equity upside. How to speak to founders about stock options, strike prices, and dilution with founder-level fluency.

Vishal Verma
Vishal VermaCTO & Co-Founder, Dehurdle
August 19, 20261 min read

The Friction

Founders respect candidates who understand startup math. Candidates who shy away from discussing 4-year vesting, single-trigger vs. double-trigger acceleration, or latest 409A valuations leave substantial wealth on the table.

The Spoken Equity Framework

When a founder offers a standard low-cash, moderate-equity package, align your incentives directly with enterprise valuation growth.

Recommended script
"I believe deeply in what you are building and want to be fully invested in our $100M milestone. To make this transition work with my family's baseline, I need $140,000 base cash, but I want to take the rest of my upside in equity. Can we increase the option grant from 0.75% to 1.25% with standard 4-year vesting and a 1-year cliff?"

Critical Questions to Ask Out Loud

01
"What was the preferred price per share in the last round, and what is the current common strike price?"
02
"What is the fully diluted share count today, including the unallocated option pool?"
03
"What are the company's early exercise and 83(b) election policies?"

The 2-Minute Practice Drill

2-Minute Spoken Practice

The 2-Minute Practice Drill

Test your startup equity negotiation in a Dehurdle simulation. Practice asking hard cap-table questions with steady cadence and zero vocal hesitation.

Try the Free Speech CheckBook a Demo

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