Pick 5-10 larger companies and talk to them about their problems/issues with airtable or similar solutions. Before you build something really work to understand the problem/opportunity. Then identify 3 of those companies to deepen a relationship and sell a “design partnership” where you will deliver a solution to address the problems you’ve identified. This will give you early cash-flow and reference customers. More importantly you’ll be solving real needed problems for specific customers.

The government releases great software, on-time and on-budget.

Said no-one, ever.

It’s very likely that a small team could do it faster & better.

Talk to a lawyer experienced with this. You will need to ask for a fully diluted cap-table to determine if it was 2% at the time it was granted. It’s likely that what’s in the offer letter and what was granted may not entirely line-up, the numbers may be large enough that it’s worth checking. Agree that you shouldn’t sign a letter without having someone review and negotiate on your behalf. Typically, a separation agreement prevents you from suing, you want to make sure things are 100% Ok before signing.