Hi X,
Thank you for taking the time to work with me on this offer. I cannot emphasize how excited I am about what you are building at [company], and learning more about your mission and team during my interview process has only increased my enthusiasm. This is a company I can really see myself at for a long time.
The offer you made is quite generous although based on my experience, the value I bring, and role at [company], my personal goal for total compensation is [your target comp]. I understand I cannot expect a growing company to compete with tech incumbents and provide this amount in cash, so I want to get creative and work together to get to this number.
In order to truly feel aligned and valued at [company], I would like to increase my common stock equity grant to [number] shares. Additionally, I would like for the company to cover my cost to exercise the shares for [cost to exercise] (assuming a strike price of [strike price]). I am open to receiving this [cost to exercise] in additional salary, a year end bonus, or split across both, whatever makes the most sense for [company].
If we are able to agree on the above, it would be a meaningful show of faith and I would be ready to sign immediately.
Happy to jump on a quick call to discuss. I’m around today and tomorrow.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and happy holidays!
[your name]