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Why I will not exercise my GitLab stock options

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Re: Why I will not exercise my GitLab stock options

#181

Post by FullMtlAlcoholc »

syshum wrote: post #136
cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I was the CEO of Pepsi and saw my employee tweet how he likes Coke I would be pissed. Morality is subjective so nobody can say what's truly "right" or "wrong", but it is true that what this guy did was not a cool thing to do. And I can imagine just reading through his post what other things he probably may have done to result in him getting fired.

Ahh so if you work for Dodge you can only buy a dodge?

My father worked for Chrysler and has only bought Chrysler cars. The lot at the HQ was filled with over 95%+ Chrysler cars.

It's not a requirement, but it hints at not believing in the company you work for. Imagine the drama if Uber's CEO preferred to use Lyft.

If you don't have confidence in the product, it implies that you are just there to collect a paycheck. The optics from an outsider is that you have no confidence in Gitlab and the work that you do. It looks especially bad considering Github is your direct competitor. Its like a member of the LA Lakers wearing a Boston Celtics jersey to warmups

Re: Why I will not exercise my GitLab stock options

#182

Post by gtirloni »

stale2002 wrote: post #119
ryguytilidie wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Agreed. But aren't all reviews anonymous?

Re: Why I will not exercise my GitLab stock options

#183

Post by FullMtlAlcoholc »

OP is sabotaging his future employment prospects by taking the firing so personally.

For whatever reason it wasn't a good fit. It's not professional at all and speaks badly on your character and appears immature. It shouldnt be a revelation that culture changes when you go from 10 to 100 employees.

He doubles down on this by making financial decisions based upon his hurt feelings, like he still holds a grudge and isn't over it. Who wants to employ someone like that?

Re: Why I will not exercise my GitLab stock options

#184

Post by [deleted] »

Retric wrote: post #71
danaliv wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then don't waste your time. The point is, a public post like this reads badly.

I disagree, I am more likely to hier the guy after reeding this post as I want someone to know when they need help. And more importantly be willing to speak up.

[deleted]

Re: Why I will not exercise my GitLab stock options

#185

Post by dano »

owenversteeg wrote: post #5

Anyone 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…

Just did a bit more math here.

Given the numbers above, if the company is valued at $100m and not adding shares, the valuation could be ~$5.60 per share.

When buying ISO's you need to pay for the shares and pay the taxes on the difference between the strike price ($0.27) and the fair market value on the date of purchase. Therefore, in this example, tax would be owed on ($5.60 - $0.27) * 15000 or $79k in paper gain. Depending on other income and a variety of factors, tax due may be greater than $28k.

Total cash out of pocket to exercise these options would then be the amount paid for the options plus the tax.

$4050 + $28k for a total of $32k on a valuation of 15000 * $5.65 or $84750.

If Gitlab does not decrease in value, he could benefit about $50k on an investment of $32k. If Gitlab increases in value, the benefit could be larger.

Not a tax guy here so corrections are gladly accepted and appreciated to increase the clarity of the situation.

Re: Why I will not exercise my GitLab stock options

#186

Post by martijndeh »

Everhusk wrote: post #31
zeveb wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

Why is GitLab even using Github? https://github.com/gitlabhq

Nowadays the stuff on GitHub is simply a mirror. Originally, they used GitHub primarily. Why they used GitHub was explained by Sytse (or Sid) in 2013:

"We're just going to stay where the people are. [...] GitHub is where the contributors are."

You can hear him yourself in The Changelog #103 podcast at https://changelog.com/podcast/103. Again, this was from late 2013.

Re: Why I will not exercise my GitLab stock options

#188

Post by YorickPeterse »

Everhusk wrote: post #31
zeveb wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

Why is GitLab even using Github? https://github.com/gitlabhq

It's just a mirror nowadays. In the past we used to accept merge requests via this mirror as well.

Re: Why I will not exercise my GitLab stock options

#189

Post by educar »

vinceguidry wrote: post #159
barrkel wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Identity trumps economics. Idealism is a political position; it's just not an economically rewarding one. It can feed the ego, though, and taking the other road - sacrificing principles for money - may lead to more net unhappiness.

My friend the idealist is way less happy than I am. I submit that he would be happier if he had more say, more money, and more flexibility at his job, but he threw that all away in the name of idealism. I agree, identity trumps economics, but there is such a thing as having more principles than sense.

For many, Happiness is not a goal of life. Rightful living is. See Buddha, Gandhi, MLK etc. Sure, You might be happier than them but that hardly means anything

Re: Why I will not exercise my GitLab stock options

#190

Post by syntheticcdo »

hkmurakami wrote: post #133
pjschlic wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The original 4.8M valuation (which is his strike price - extrapolating from his share price and ownership %) has now increased to ~40M (extrapolated from 20M raise, estimating ~100M preferred shares valuation and 40% of that for 409A valuation[1]). This means 4k outlay for initial stock, but they are now valued at ~33.2k, incurring some short term capital gains of ~5.6k. This still seems like a steal, as is the value…

Thx for the analysis. Fwiw capital loss can only be applied to offset capital gains, other than 3k/year.

Capital losses also carry forward for your entire life. Either 3k a year of offset ordinary income until you die, offset any future capital gains, or have written off your entire loss.
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