<prompt> Human: I have a day job but in some of the off hours Ive been working as an independent contractor to help get a startup company off the ground. Theyve been paying me 40 an hour, and Ive been helping them for about a year.They recently called me and offered me stock in the company.Instead of making an hourly rate, my hourly rate would go towards me owning 5 of the companys stock after putting in an additional 750 hours.I know they want to do this in order to free up more money to do marketing and further get the company off the ground, but it still seems like a questionable decision for me. I think the chances of the company being bought by a competitor is pretty low but possible, but other than that, I dont know if the company would be making major profits for at least a couple more years.EDIT: Oh, and they are reserving the right to buy back the shares at the original price one year out. Does that make a difference?  <response>: 750 40 30,000. Would you consider investing 30k in the company in exchange for 5 ownership? This would value of the company at around 600k. Oh, and they are reserving the right to buy back the shares at the original price one year out. Does that make a difference?Yes, that makes a huge difference. Youre either taking a pay cut or giving them an interest free loan. If the company is worth more than 600k next year, theyll pay you back your 30k without any additional interest. If the company is worth less than 600k next year, then you took a pay cut. 