Year 1 at a startup: you have 4 years of vesting ahead. Year 3: you have 1 year of vesting ahead. The equity motivation that pulled you in starts disappearing. The company's solution to this is the 'refresh grant' — a new, smaller grant designed to extend your forward-vesting runway.
How refreshes work
A refresh is a new option/RSU grant on top of your existing vested-and-unvested grant. New strike (or new RSU value), new 4-year vesting from the grant date. Typical size: 25–50% of your original grant, given annually or at promotion.
Why companies don't always offer them
Some companies have formal refresh programs (Meta is famous for this). Others give them ad-hoc, only to people who ask. If your company doesn't have a stated policy, raising it during your annual review — paired with a strong performance year — is the most effective approach.
Concrete script: 'Looking ahead, my original grant is largely vested. If I'm going to commit another four years here, I'd want my forward equity to reflect that. Can we discuss a refresh grant?'. Most managers can either say yes or escalate it.