"The 'strike price' at which an employee may ultimately buy his options is typically set at whatever price the company's stock is trading the day he hires on.

If he hires on when the stock is trading at US$200 and then a market correction whacks it down to $75, his options may never be worth a penny. And he may very well go someplace else where he can get in at a low strike price."
—Craig Bicknell, "New Options for Options?", Wired News, September 20, 1999