Thanks for giving more of a entrepreneur perspective. I agree with you on that it is not a co-founder equity. However, I get the impression that VC would have a heart attack before even considering a better deal.

Considering the deal includes a trigger with very beneficial acceleration mechanism, I don't see them giving in more, on what already seams like an outstanding deal from the VC's perspective (the founders are relying on the VC's expertise on such deals, as they are not that familiar on what is standard and what is not).