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Forward vesting... you want it. When/if they sell the company you do not want a bunch of unvested stock options disappearing. Has happened to several folks I know, and myself in the past. Forward vesting causes all of your options to vest in the event of a change of control, or sale of the company.

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Also known as single trigger (the change of control being the trigger). More common for a CTO role is double trigger, meaning you forward vest if there's a change of control AND you are not needed in the new company (laid off).

Generally single trigger seems to be popular for the more business-y type roles that tend to not be needed as much as tech roles in the acquiring company.

Good point, but I still think he should figure out how much equity he is going to get. Right now from his commments he is getting zero equity with the possibility of a small percentage sometime in the future. Hardly worth giving up anything else during negotiations.

I'll come back with details and probably a follow-up question in a couple weeks after our discussion about the long-term opportunity. I haven't had any offer yet, only an invitation to consider joining them since they have secured funding.

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