In the negotiation you can get them to establish some standard for you in writing that you can hold them to when you meet those. This is helped a lot by the 30/60/90 review which they will most likely blow off. Unless you're at a huge company, the standards are unwritten. You can see how they think about their employees, what their metrics are and sometimes help them get a better perspective out of what motivates you to succeed. The conversation canonized into a contract is hugely valuable especially if the "fit" ends up being something you don't love.
This advice is from my 20+ year experience working as a serial startup founder and first (or near first) hire. I've moved out of that field but I find it useful in all negotiations. It's good to keep in mind with startups that they probably know nearly as much as you about organizing teams. I don't fault my employers for failing to do the 30/60/90, but the ones that have did a much better job growing with me. The ones that failed at it, at least we could talk about why and I think that was useful.
Worst case, you end up a sacrificial lamb that helps them figure out solid on-boarding and you likely get paid for the grief.
Mostly in negotiation it's a tactic to get them on their heels when they asked you a "reasonable" question that you didn't want to answer by doing the same thing back to them. That said, I think it's always important to keep in mind the human aspects of what it takes to build businesses. You want them to succeed so you can too. Taking too big of a slice can be something that hurts your future at the company as well. You need insight and compassion.
A lot of people don't see employment negotiation as the same thing as contract negotiation. They see it more akin to dating. Avoiding the sticky parts to get accepted (I personally don't recommend that for dating either). Confidently discussing the hard parts means everyone has a clear picture of where they are going that they can look back on when the departure occurs. Discussing internal policies early weeds out people that are unwilling to discuss them and increases the likelihood that you'll have a prosperous partnership.
This advice is from my 20+ year experience working as a serial startup founder and first (or near first) hire. I've moved out of that field but I find it useful in all negotiations. It's good to keep in mind with startups that they probably know nearly as much as you about organizing teams. I don't fault my employers for failing to do the 30/60/90, but the ones that have did a much better job growing with me. The ones that failed at it, at least we could talk about why and I think that was useful.
Worst case, you end up a sacrificial lamb that helps them figure out solid on-boarding and you likely get paid for the grief.
Mostly in negotiation it's a tactic to get them on their heels when they asked you a "reasonable" question that you didn't want to answer by doing the same thing back to them. That said, I think it's always important to keep in mind the human aspects of what it takes to build businesses. You want them to succeed so you can too. Taking too big of a slice can be something that hurts your future at the company as well. You need insight and compassion.
A lot of people don't see employment negotiation as the same thing as contract negotiation. They see it more akin to dating. Avoiding the sticky parts to get accepted (I personally don't recommend that for dating either). Confidently discussing the hard parts means everyone has a clear picture of where they are going that they can look back on when the departure occurs. Discussing internal policies early weeds out people that are unwilling to discuss them and increases the likelihood that you'll have a prosperous partnership.