I was in charge of marketing and also did all sorts of bd under the CEO.

Something I did not mention is that the CEO was cultivating an overly confidential culture. Over the past couple months I did not know who our clients were, how much they were paying, status updates from our software development. It felt like I was mindlessly rowing a canoe with blinders on and earlplugs in. While this definitely is one management strategy, I don't agree with it. As a result I think I got a little unplugged and they didn't like it.

I don't want to reveal what we sold yet to preserve confidentiality for them.

Heh - if you were in charge of marketing and didn't know who your clients were, your CEO's out of his tree and your stock's never going to be worth anything anyway.

I'd take the 3.5 months worth of equity just in case and start looking for another job.

(Oh, and next time do your expenses and take a sustainable salary! Early-stage employee doesn't equal martyr.)

"Early-stage employee doesn't equal martyr" >> I think that's my biggest lesson so far

Right, and if you are going to take a significant pay cut over market, make sure that equity vests every month. You are being compensated in equity in these arrangements. Make sure the equity is not a future promise for sacrifices today.

That's just not how it works. Pretty much every startup uses the 1 year cliff. And rightly so, because for a very early employee 1/48 of the employee's options is not a trivial amount of equity. You could hire a guy that comes in and works for a few months and then leaves and takes .3% or whatever of the company. That is just as bad of a screwjob as what happened to the OP, and companies are right to protect themselves.

Anyway, the right answer here is to work for someone who doesn't pull crap like this. And if the OP was competent at his job, I would hope the other employees have seen what happened and are properly aware of their employer's shady ethics. In any regard, this is just bad business and likely killed morale to some degree.

The deals for early employees are much more flexible than for later employees. If he took a significantly below-market salary in exchange for equity, asking for a shorter cliff is not unreasonable.

Right, anytime I take reduced compensation my cliff becomes very short. If it does not then it is not the deal for me. Any other arrangement leaves you in a position to hold the bag. Now there are a multitude of way that that vesting can be scheduled for example an introductory 3 month window where there is no vesting and then a sliding scale where each month compounds until fully vested at 12. I am sorry but any deal where you take reduced compensation with no equity until 12 months is a bad deal. This post being a prime example of why.

I really wish I had taken this track back in the day.

OP, listen to kls...now that you've seen how this can go you will really be a lot stronger when you negotiate your next job. There's different kinds of options available too, but unless you ask about which kind you get, you'll just be given the default (i.e. cheaper for the company).

It's fairly standard to have a 1 year cliff with no vesting, followed by monthly vesting.

No that is the standard for companies, it is not the rules, you can negotiate any terms that you are comfortable with. Me personally, I am not comfortable taking reduced compensation for a year before I earn the replacement of that forgone compensation. To me it would be no different then someone saying to me, hey we are going to pay you half of market and then at the end of the year we will give you a bonus that pays the other half of your rate. My response to that would be, and if I am terminated you prorate that bonus and issue me the prorated bonus on termination. I would allow for a 3 month window but that is as far as I am willing to risk reduced compensation for a future promise.

Worst kind of lesson to learn first hand as well. At least you are still young and have a long road ahead of you.

Unless they kept it secret from him for a reason. Anyway, I agree, take the 3.5 months of equity.

As far as the lawyer goes, this is all very interesting, as if they were preparing to push you out before your 12mo. Did they keep the information from you? Don't blame yourself, it may be that they unplugged you first.

You were the head of marketing and you didn't know who your own customers were? ... Excuse me?

If you feel you were wronged, sue them for what you feel is right and move on as quickly as possible. This entire situation sounds insane. Either you or they are completely off the rocker.