Tel Aviv is the best tech hub outside of the US and is thus very competitive for getting talent. If having a fancy office gets Google the brightest engineers then they are getting a bargain.
For more info the book Start-up Nation details stories and explains how their culture fosters entrepreneurship.
A great read, all in all negotiation 101 techniques still work:
- Put your fence post out first by setting a number that you could get elsewhere
- Mention that you love the company and are willing to take a partial cut on a higher alternative but cant do more than that
- Assume the stock wont be worth much at all, explain although you strongly believe in the company most start-ups fail
- Confidence is important
Great to see companies looking for solutions to the patent systems mess. It gets really frustrating when the system that protects IP causes more trouble than good.
I still cant believe amazon were able to patent the one click sales process they offer on their website. Maybe one of the car makers will patent their air conditioning button? =(
In the early years of Groupon it was seen as coupons moving online to create a new business model that was going to drive retail.
The sites had off the charts growth, huge revenue dollars that were growing just as fast and the land was up for grabs.
Even Google got suckered into this when it tried to buy Groupon for billions in cash, I can see where the investors were coming from, well at least before 2011.
The grass is always greener on the other side, if its a rousing success then you are an idiot for not taking additional stock but when the shoe is on the other foot you are a fool for taking the stock.
You should work for a company you are passionate about, take it's stock and assume it will be worth next to nothing and hope for the best.
I'm sick of hearing people call themselves growth hackers after adding Facebook integration and sharing buttons.