It’s crazy how few people understand basic startup equity but are faced with major career decisions based on these concepts.

It’s even crazier how few companies are forthcoming with necessary details like latest valuation, shares outstanding, or fundraising plans (read ‘dilution’).
One of the most valuable topic areas I got comfortable with while at Uber were these concepts and I regularly have friends and colleagues asking me to simplify and clarify these topics.
The key: ASK MORE QUESTIONS... without clarity you’re forced to discount the valued equity. The less is shared, the less serious the company is taking their own equity, and likely so should you. Here are a few questions to start with.
Valuation questions:

• What is the latest valuation of the company?
• When was the valuation set?
• How was the valuation set?
Equity types & value questions:

• How many shares outstanding?
• How will i receive equity? options? RSUs?
• What is the vesting schedule?
• Paid over 4 years w 1 year cliff is normal
Ask about who gets equity:

• Is there a standard equity program?
• Do all employees get equity?
• Do leaders / executives receive the same form of equity as me?
Ask about Investors, expectations, and outcomes:

• What is the fundraising plan?
• What is the plan/expectations for an exit?
• What is a reasonable valuation at the time of an exit?
It’s not exhaustive but it will get you started. The right mentality in these convos:

• I want equity because I believe in the company long-term
• I want to be aligned with the leaders/founders
• The more information I have the better decision I can make for my family
If you’re early in your career, find a place where you can be and operate as an owner. Optimizing for learning, speed, ownership, and great people to learn from is paramount. For more on equity >> https://t.co/V461HQbAkz

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Don't do anything that destroys your reputation. Copying what works is a simple & practical strategy, but don't cross any boundaries.

In this thread, I'll show you how to steal your competitors' traffic, product ideas, and customers in a 100% fair way.

1. Steal their social media traffic

Drop your competitors' url in
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I just finished Eric Adler's The Battle of the Classics, and wanted to say something about Joel Christiansen's review linked below. I am not sure what motivates the review (I speculate a bit below), but it gives a very misleading impression of the book. 1/x


The meat of the criticism is that the history Adler gives is insufficiently critical. Adler describes a few figures who had a great influence on how the modern US university was formed. It's certainly critical: it focuses on the social Darwinism of these figures. 2/x

Other insinuations and suggestions in the review seem wildly off the mark, distorted, or inappropriate-- for example, that the book is clickbaity (it is scholarly) or conservative (hardly) or connected to the events at the Capitol (give me a break). 3/x

The core question: in what sense is classics inherently racist? Classics is old. On Adler's account, it begins in ancient Rome and is revived in the Renaissance. Slavery (Christiansen's primary concern) is also very old. Let's say classics is an education for slaveowners. 4/x

It's worth remembering that literacy itself is elite throughout most of this history. Literacy is, then, also the education of slaveowners. We can honor oral and musical traditions without denying that literacy is, generally, good. 5/x