>I am entering into an agreement wherein I shall be recieving shares in a new corporation as part payment for my work.

You are a braver man than I.....

Take Lucien's advice and talk to some expensive people. There are no guarantees with stocks, ESPECIALLY new companies. I forget the stat on how many new companies fail in the first year, but I think it is around 75%. also, only 30% of all companies that made the first year make it 10 years or more.... Make sure yours is one of them and be carefull!

HTH,
Scot.