I work at a startup. My boss wants me to work on a project which will create a lot of value because it will be one of it's kind. So it will become a part of the company's IP.
Should I ask for equity (to be provided on completion) before I start working on that?
If yes, how do I ask without being offensive?

Welcome to devRant! Good question.

The project can be divided into two simple sections:

1. Conceptual design and specs
2. Development and testing

If my assumption is that you don't have much involvement in #1 and already getting paid fair market value for #2, then it's unreasonable.

But if you are contributing much more than the fair market value, then you deserve to ask for your share in IP.

If I was your place, I would ask for clarification on the guidelines for earning the equity from the founders.

@ajit555 We have 5 devs and 10 employees in total. The product is still under development. I just have an end goal.
I'll have to create the entire workflow

@vijayaravindh if you ask. And agreed.

Then you need to ass off 24/7 on the project. If something happens to it you need to fix asap.

@vijayaravindh if you honestly believe that the work earns equity, have an honest discussion and have a positive attitude, put yourself in their shoes.

@ajit555 @zotigapo Thanks for your comments. This project may or may not pan out. So what if I ask them to make the grant of equity conditional (on the completion of certain milestones)?

I had a similar question a while back when I was making a replacement for an existing system, but from scratch. It got a little odd if you start talking about who "owns the idea" then.

I had a lot of luck asking unions about it where they even offered lawyer time (short version: "It's complicated; it depends"). I don't know if that's an option for you.

@ltlian I get that. This is very complicated. I don't want to create something worthwhile and give it away for free. An ex-employee got equity for something similar, but that was 2 years ago and management has changed.

@Nanos Seems reasonable. I'll have to negotiate my way through this.

@vijayaravindh if you do this, try to get it on a contract. They won't just give you equity on a verbal agreement. Also they can always replace you, so make it clear that you can provide a lot of good insights for the project.

@anon404 I'll make sure I will