What is Accelerated Vesting?

Accelerated vesting speeds up the schedule for earning your equity, so shares land sooner than planned.

How does accelerated vesting work?

Standard startup equity vests over four years with a one-year cliff. Acceleration shortcuts that schedule when a trigger event hits, usually an acquisition. Single-trigger means the sale alone speeds up your vesting. Double-trigger requires the sale plus losing your job after it.

Why does accelerated vesting matter?

Acquisitions decide who gets paid. Without acceleration, an acquirer can cut you loose and your unvested shares vanish with the job. With it, the equity you earned building the company survives the day the company changes hands.

Where did accelerated vesting come from?

It grew out of Silicon Valley acquisition practice as protection for founders and early employees. Today double-trigger acceleration is the version most investors accept, because it protects people without scaring off acquirers.

How do you use accelerated vesting well?

Negotiate it when you sign, not during the acquisition. Founders and early hires should push for double-trigger on at least part of the grant. And no, it has nothing to do with accelerators. That’s a different definition.

Bottom line: vesting rewards time. Acceleration protects you when time runs out.

For more startup terminology, visit startupdefinitions.com.