Yes, you vest stock options, and given that risk for startups is very much front-loaded, vesting schedules that are back-loaded are a big red flag for incentive misalignment. And that's ignoring all of the problems with stock options as opposed to RSU's.
The baseline is something like a 4-year vesting schedule with a 1 year cliff and monthly after that, uniform distribution. Anything more back-loaded or worse than that is a red flag.
The baseline is something like a 4-year vesting schedule with a 1 year cliff and monthly after that, uniform distribution. Anything more back-loaded or worse than that is a red flag.