Include ESOPs in your offer letter — the right way.
Equity is how startups compete with big-company salaries. Firmly builds the ESOP section — grant value, vesting schedule, cliff — directly into your offer letter. No separate document, no copy-pasting, no verbal promises.
Quick answer
An ESOP offer letter for Indian startups must include grant value in INR, vesting schedule (typically 4 years), cliff period (typically 12 months), and a note that the grant is subject to the company's ESOP plan and board approval. Without written terms in the offer letter, equity promises are verbal and unenforceable.
What firmly includes
What ESOP fields must a proper offer letter include?
Why it matters
Why must ESOP terms be written into the offer letter?
Most early-stage ESOP disputes start the same way: a founder mentions equity during the interview, the offer letter arrives with nothing in it, and the employee assumes it will be sorted out later. When "later" comes — at a promotion, a funding round, or an exit — the terms are suddenly contested.
Putting the grant in the offer letter — with specific numbers, vesting schedule, and cliff — sets clear expectations on day one. It's also the first step in creating a paper trail that protects both the company and the employee.
Firmly makes this a 10-second addition to your offer letter — not a separate negotiation, not a complex legal document, not something you figure out later.
How it works
From blank page to signed offer in under 3 minutes.
FAQ
Common questions
An ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) gives employees the right to buy company shares at a fixed price after a vesting period. Mentioning the grant in the offer letter signals the full compensation package upfront — candidates can evaluate cash plus equity together. Without it, the ESOP promise is verbal and unenforceable.
At minimum: the grant value or number of units in INR, the vesting schedule (typically 4 years), the cliff period (typically 12 months), and a note that the grant is subject to the company's ESOP plan and board approval. Firmly includes all of these with configurable values.
A vesting cliff is the minimum service period before any options vest. If an employee leaves before the cliff — typically 12 months — they get no options. After the cliff, the remaining options vest monthly or quarterly over the remaining schedule. Firmly lets you set both the cliff (in months) and the vesting period (in years).
A vesting schedule is the timeline over which the employee earns the right to exercise their options. A typical 4-year schedule with a 1-year cliff means 25% vests after year one, then the remaining 75% vests monthly over the next 3 years.
The offer letter records the grant and forms part of the employment contract. A separate ESOP agreement (and the company's ESOP pool/policy document) covers the full legal mechanics — exercise price, drag-along clauses, what happens on acquisition or termination. Firmly handles the offer letter part. Your company's ESOP plan document handles the rest.
Changing vesting terms after signing requires the employee's written consent, since the offer letter is a binding contract. Firmly's offer letter says the grant is 'subject to the Company's ESOP plan as amended from time to time' — this gives the company some flexibility on plan-level mechanics while keeping the core grant terms fixed.
Yes — for the offer letter portion. Firmly covers how the ESOP grant is referenced in the offer letter: grant value, vesting schedule, cliff, and standard ESOP plan references. A full ESOP setup also requires a separately drafted ESOP plan document and board/shareholder resolutions under the Companies Act — those need a company secretary. The offer letter Firmly generates slots into that framework once it's in place.
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