The details of the argument are a bit off base because the argument conflates returns on capital with wages. In order for Bill to earn $1200 from his equity over the weekend, the value of the company has to increase $240,000. By being on the equity side of the equation, Bill sees $1200 of value regardless of whether he works or not. .
Going even further, good equity outcomes are entirely discontinuous from hours worked. Bill's equity doesn't necessarily only increase on the weekend, it can increase throughout the time he is at work, while he is at home sleeping or off on vacation.
The article really doesn't capture the nature of free-lancing either. 16 hours of billable work a week means some number of hours identifying leads, closing prospects, and getting paid. Finding regular freelance work in regular weekend only chunks is a non-trivial exercise...unless fortune smiles upon you. And if fortune is smiling upon you, perhaps the equity is a better place to direct her grace. Clients who will give you six months to get one month of work done are rare. Those that won't cancel half-way through are even rarer.
None of which is to say that most employee equity deals I read about in Ask HN are particularly good. The one's that are are several percentage points in addition to a good salary. People are motivated to work by equity only when they are outsiders. Smart capital strives to earn money without working at all.
Going even further, good equity outcomes are entirely discontinuous from hours worked. Bill's equity doesn't necessarily only increase on the weekend, it can increase throughout the time he is at work, while he is at home sleeping or off on vacation.
The article really doesn't capture the nature of free-lancing either. 16 hours of billable work a week means some number of hours identifying leads, closing prospects, and getting paid. Finding regular freelance work in regular weekend only chunks is a non-trivial exercise...unless fortune smiles upon you. And if fortune is smiling upon you, perhaps the equity is a better place to direct her grace. Clients who will give you six months to get one month of work done are rare. Those that won't cancel half-way through are even rarer.
None of which is to say that most employee equity deals I read about in Ask HN are particularly good. The one's that are are several percentage points in addition to a good salary. People are motivated to work by equity only when they are outsiders. Smart capital strives to earn money without working at all.