91–100 of 175 posts
Startup 1: $0 Startup 2: $0 Startup 3: Would’ve made ~$40k had I not left so early (left after 7 months, sold for a couple hundred million like 6 months later) Startup 4: Publicly traded now, will see how it turns out but hopefully $100k or more Overall, simply bank on it being nothing
The current company I’m at just sold about a month ago for $140mil. I was one of the first engineers (the three of us originals all started at the same time) and started a few months after initial funding was raised. Between my purchased options and non-purchased vested options I made about $130k and have another about $40k in remaining options that are converting over. I was kept on by the acquiring company and give…
They gave me stock options worth 300 $ but it increased 2000 times, in a span of 10 years. It increased so much, that I sold it eventually(to avoid all eggs in one basket). Got myself a house. Loan free. And started my own startup. Which I run till date.
I once joined a company that already had several hundred employees as an entry level software engineer. It was my least favorite job: I couldn't find a fit and I only lasted just over a year. However, during that year they IPO'd, and because I made it over the vesting cliff I was able to buy my options on my way out. Ballpark numbers: I had 300 options at $5. post-IPO price was around $15. I did the "sell to buy" thi…
- 20k total shares would mean a market cap of $1M, and an IPO price of $300k. Those are not viable numbers.
- 20k total shares vs. you having 300 options means you would have been given 1.5% of the company in one year. That's totally absurd given you worked there for a year as an entry-level engineer and the company had several hundred employees.
startup2: 0$
startup3: 20000$
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Third job was not a startup, but it was a fairly small company, and I've made nearly two million in tax deferred accounts" I would love to know how. Am I just stupid? How am I missing these opportunities? Someone above posted that 4 years at FAANG would net you $1,000,000 savings. And you're saying that a "fairly small" company netted you $2,000,000 savings? I am failing at life, apparently.
99% of times success or failure is just a state of mind, so it’s pretty much your choice to decide.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
FYI, in the US there is the Qualified Small Business Stock exemption, which can significantly reduce the tax owed on the sale of stock of a company that was once small. It can be publicly-traded at the time of sale. Back when I was a tax lawyer, you could exclude 50% of your gain, though the rules may have changed. Also, if you rolled over your gains into other “qualified small businesses”, you could defer taxation a…
Does this exemption qualify if selling a business that has no stock, just a standard asset sale?
Not sure what you mean about a business that has no stock (sole proprietorship?).
First startup, I traded nearly all of my salary over four years for stock options: $0 Second startup, I was told I'd get 5% of the company (no contract though). I quit after a year without pushing the topic: $0 Third job was not a startup, but it was a fairly small company, and I've made nearly two million in tax deferred accounts having made a healthy salary the entire time. I'm retiring this year. I learned a lot o…
"Third job was not a startup, but it was a fairly small company, and I've made nearly two million in tax deferred accounts" I would love to know how. Am I just stupid? How am I missing these opportunities? Someone above posted that 4 years at FAANG would net you $1,000,000 savings. And you're saying that a "fairly small" company netted you $2,000,000 savings? I am failing at life, apparently.
These huge bonuses, etc are handed out to people who either have really scarce skills or get lucky.
Wikipedia[1] says there are nearly 4 million software developers in the US. If each were to receive a million dollars, then it would total up to 4 trillion USD (using US ways of naming large numbers). The GDP of the US in 2016 (same time the software developers demographics was reported) was about 18.6 trillion USD.
The idea that a million USD is reasonable for a developer is absolutely laughable.
[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_engineering_demograph...
The good news: none of this has mattered. After 20 years of work, I've done well through traditional savings and investment.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Please tell this story
Pretty standard acquisition story. Shareholders with preferred shares (VCs) got paid first. By the time they were paid there was nothing left. It just means the company was sold for too little for the employees to benefit.
I got $130k, and their options were worthless.
Luckily the acquirer offered retention bonuses that helped dull the pain, but of course those are taxed at regular income and not long term capital gains.
Oh, and like a previous comment mentioned: the VCs have preferred stock so they get their investment back 100% before any common stock sees a penny. If employees had the same stock as VCs, I estimate I would have walked away with about $400k.