If you receive a job offer with equity, ask the recruiter about the stock options, specifically if you can sell your vested and exercised shares on the secondary market. You'll realize your shares are worthless because Neo4j prevents you from selling them on the secondary market, meaning the only way you'll ever realize any value from them is if the company is acquired or goes public (laugh).
See, the company was very sneaky about changing this rule a few years back, and many of us with vested options are now holding worthless paper. What was sneaky is that the change wasn't communicated to employees but slowly emerged as some employees tried to sell their shares and were surprised to find they couldn't.
So if the recruiter offers you stock, tell them you'll pass and want more cash instead.
