Some great advice I got when someone comes back to you and says "We'll give you 16,000 shares" is essentially to ask "shares of what?"
One of the best questions to ask is "What percentage of the total outstanding shares does this represent?" Since 16,000 shares could be out of 100K, 1M, etc.
I read that in the article (she mentioned learning that same lesson), and can't believe anyone would ever not do this. Would you really not have thought of finding that out had you not been given this advice?
(Full Disclosure: I'm Kyle, the CEO mentioned in the OP)
I actually had this issue bite me in the ass at my first startup, where I was offered a flat # of shares.
I was pretty much fresh out of college, but for the record, I did realize it was important to find out what percentage I was actually getting. When I asked what the total # of shares outstanding was, the company snaked its way out of answering the question directly. The job had a lot of perks (a big title, very respectable pay, work-from-home, greenfield development), so I took the offer rather than press the issue.
Eight months later, we were acquired. I was the only engineer. You could say I was a bit peeved to learn how little of the company I really owned.
One of the best questions to ask is "What percentage of the total outstanding shares does this represent?" Since 16,000 shares could be out of 100K, 1M, etc.