When an employee joins a startup, there’s a social contract of sorts.
The employee takes a risk, joining a new company, in many cases one that doesn’t have proven revenue or a secure future. They join for the mission, the chance to take a seat on a possible rocket ship, and to work with a founder or set of cofounders they believe are exceptional. And of course, they join for the upside—the belief that the equity in a company that they take on as part of their compensation will actually be worth something in the end, that the founders they’ve risked their careers for will advocate for as many of their people as possible in the event of an exit.
