If anyone is considering an offer with a start up or really anywhere that includes ISOs on non-publicly-traded stock as part of the comp package, I can highly recommend this git repository (it's also a book, but I just read the Markdown version): https://github.com/jlevy/og-equity-compensation The tl;dr, if you really dig in, is that there are 9999 ways for your ISOs to be worth $0 (and worse you can pay for the privilege of holding this equity worth $0). And very few ways that they turn in to real income. We've all been spoiled by the Big Corp(™️) RSUs, but beware. Start ups that are offering equity will not want to be transparent on: • Outstanding shares and the cap table • latest 409A valuation But without this information, you cannot even estimate the value of the options they are offering you. It's a total black box of a lottery ticket. I may be jaded, or just old and have 2 kids and a mortgage, but it's a very frustrating form of "Compensation" Ask about about an extended exercise window. Most companies don't do it. Some do.

The company I wound up with gave me equity as a percentage of the whole company and not rsu quantity which was neat

Yeah, that is better, and more common in the very early stages