This is an interesting move, to have contractors, not employees. Probably VCs are quite happy with this idea...
Why I will not exercise my GitLab stock options
111–120 of 211 posts
Re: Why I will not exercise my GitLab stock options
#112>> I left out acquisitions on purpose because GitLab is not really suited for an acquisition, due to the remote-only work model.
Didn't know remote work would play a role in this matter. Is that true?
Re: Why I will not exercise my GitLab stock options
#113Just wanted to comment that I totally admire the bravery behind this post. GitLab definitely grows too fast (it was 200 last I checked).
It amazes me that far too many here are afraid of repercussions and retaliation by future employers (just see the "warnings" about bad blood in the comments here). That too on HN (who are supposedly the idealists who want to changes the world and all that)! Seriously guys, all this person has done is detail his experiences in what he thinks is the truth. And believes it enough to let go of a good chunk of money.
Also, this comment surprised me (from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14037692):
"Unfortunately, as a contractor, you do not have these protections. Given that the entire company is remote, only a tiny percentage of the people that work at GitLab are actually employees, and they take full advantage of that. "
Wow.
Re: Why I will not exercise my GitLab stock options
#114I didnt really see anything here of any real substance, other than OP strangely thinks that twitter is private, and that the CEO rightly advised him to link to their own product instead of their competitors. I cant really see how thats a "run in" with the CEO. All the other cultural issues he seems to bemoaning are all consequences of growth in a startup. Information flow gets harder with more people. As far as the C…
CEO stalking employees, nothing to see here... When did this become ok?
Stalk? The guy tagged gitlab.
Re: Why I will not exercise my GitLab stock options
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
A $20MM raise suggests a $100M valuation or so. That's a 20x increase in the stock price. OP's outlay would be something like $4000 + $35000 (state tax + short term capital gains. Less depending on how he hits AMT.). I don't think that's trivial, even if I'm off by a factor of 2.
Don't some banks let you take out a loan for the amount of the capital gains taxes using the shares as collateral? I'm not sure but I could've sworn I heard about this.
It's called margin, and you can only margin (use as collateral) shares that are liquid - i.e. publicly traded.
Re: Why I will not exercise my GitLab stock options
#116Anyone who just cares about the numbers: he was given options of 45,000 shares, of which 15,000 had vested. These 15,000, or 0.0833% of the company, were available to him at $0.27/share, or $4,050 total. So he had the opportunity to buy 0.0833% of the company at a $4.8MM valuation. Given that they recently raised $20MM at an undefined valuation it really says something that he chose not to exercise the options. I rea…
> Damn, that email from the CEO about his private Twitter. That's completely out of line. It regarded his professional work on GitLab: https://twitter.com/suprnova32/status/720396175954698240 I think it's completely appropriate that he link instead to GitLab for such a thing, and I think it's remarkable that he didn't think the same. This isn't like the ad world, where if your customer is Coke you can't be seen drink…
I agree with you.
This is not about how many followers see this or if it undermines the company's position. It's about culture. If the CEO of the company lets things like this go, it will keep happening. And it will only get worse.
From my experience, I would rather not have this kind of employee around than trying to play nice with him personally because this kind of attitude spills over and eventually affects the entire team morale.
Re: Why I will not exercise my GitLab stock options
#117>> I left out acquisitions on purpose because GitLab is not really suited for an acquisition, due to the remote-only work model. Didn't know remote work would play a role in this matter. Is that true?
> Didn't know remote work would play a role in this matter. Is that true?
Not sure about acquisitions but in my uninformed opinion, I assume remote first made an acquihire somewhat less likely what I saw as a feature as gitlab tries to get enterprise customers.
Re: Why I will not exercise my GitLab stock options
#118Just wanted to comment that I totally admire the bravery behind this post. GitLab definitely grows too fast (it was 200 last I checked). It amazes me that far too many here are afraid of repercussions and retaliation by future employers (just see the "warnings" about bad blood in the comments here). That too on HN (who are supposedly the idealists who want to changes the world and all that)! Seriously guys, all this…
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Re: Why I will not exercise my GitLab stock options
#119I don't know how I feel about this blog post but I think it reflects poorly on both the author and GitLab. I feel that a company should always give feedback to an employee who is let go. Whether it's a simple letter or an exit interview, individuals should have closure when they're leaving a company and it doesn't sound like the author received that feedback. Furthermore, if nobody - a manager, for example - explicit…
I guess at some point we should ask ourselves why "public complaints and these articles are mostly frowned on". I get that we should encourage professionalism, but this code of "don't say anything bad about your former employer" leads to a lot of startups getting away with pretty bad things. I feel like if a company has behaviors exposed and they are ashamed of those behaviors, their reaction should be to fix or elim…
I think it is perfectly professional to give feedback about companies that you no longer work for.
It helps other developers decide if they want to work there.
Things like Glassdoor are extremely helpful to employees, in telling them what places are good, and bad, to work for.
Re: Why I will not exercise my GitLab stock options
#120I wouldn't write stuff like this if I were him.
Nobody wants to hire someone who tried bashing on his former employer.