Caveat being that what is actually crashing is ‘TC’ or ‘total compensation’ in startup speak. The fact that annual equity grants can form a significant portion of an employees total compensation will seem alien for many outside of tech startup, so
this insiders view is a fascinating introduction to the topic, and how variable compensation of this type can be dependent on external factors unrelated to job performance. Loads of jargon here but get past that and you get a glimpse of the candidate / employee psychology.