Equity here: what it is usually worth

Startups across the GCC and Levant now routinely include equity in offers, and candidates routinely do not know how to price it. The honest answer is that for most employees at most companies it is worth nothing, occasionally worth something, and very rarely worth a great deal — so the correct way to evaluate an offer is on the cash, treating equity as an upside you would be pleased about rather than a number you are counting on.

Establish what you are actually being given

• Share options, restricted shares, or phantom/shadow equity? Phantom equity is a contractual cash entitlement on an exit, not ownership, and it is common in the region because it avoids restructuring a cap table.
• How many shares, and out of how many outstanding? A number of shares without a denominator is not information. Ask for the percentage.
• Strike price and the current valuation the company is using. If the strike equals the last round price, the options are worth nothing until the company is worth more than it is today.
• Vesting: over how long, with what cliff. Four years with a one-year cliff is the common shape.
• The exercise window after you leave. Ninety days is standard and is a real problem — it can mean paying a large sum in cash for shares you cannot sell.

Then discount it

Take the number you are told the grant is worth and apply the things that stand between you and it: the probability the company exits at all, the dilution of future rounds, liquidation preferences that pay investors first, the possibility you leave before vesting completes, and the tax and legal treatment where you live. For an early-stage company, a sober expected value is a small fraction of the headline. This is not pessimism; it is what the distribution of outcomes actually looks like.

The questions worth asking

1. What percentage of the company does this grant represent, fully diluted?
2. What was the last round's valuation and when was it raised?
3. Are there liquidation preferences, and are they participating?
4. What happens to unvested equity if I leave, and what is the exercise window if I do?
5. Has anyone here actually realised value from equity yet?

A company that answers all five cleanly is one whose equity is worth taking more seriously. Evasion on these questions — particularly on the cap table percentage — is itself the answer.

How to trade it

Equity is a negotiating lever precisely because you can value it lower than they do. "I'd rather weight this toward base" is a legitimate and common position, especially if you are the primary earner or your visa is tied to the job. Conversely, if you believe in the company and are financially able to take the risk, asking for more equity is often easier than asking for more cash — it does not touch the salary band.

Take the job for the cash, the work, and the people. If the equity is ever worth something, let it be a surprise rather than a plan.