“Vesting” refers to the time that it takes for an employee or consultant to have full ownership or exercise rights, as applicable, in a certain restricted stock grant, stock option grant or retirement plan. Until vested, the employee or consultant cannot, as applicable, sell the stock, exercise the stock option, or access the funds in the retirement plan. Vesting can occur immediately, gradually over a period of time or upon the occurrence of a particular event such as a Liquidity Event, e.g., Accelerated Vesting upon a Change of Control. A common Vesting period for Restricted Stock grants or Stock Option grants in a Startup is three to five years; and Standard-Cliff Vesting is a four-year Vesting schedule where 25% of the applicable shares vest after one year and the remainder of the applicable shares vests in equal amounts over the following 36 months.