You're not wrong and that view represents the normal thinking I suppose. But don't you think it feels weird to say, "We're going to pay you next year in equity at this years valuation"? if you choose to stay in the company for year 2, it's strange to think that your risk goes down while value per share goes up. Your effective cash+stock compensation for year 2/3/4 goes way way up if you think in those terms. Then drops sharply at year 5!

I don't know, I suppose in a fair world you would be given more equity on yr1, less y2, etc. But that doesn't motivate people to stick around like the existing structure.