Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

For Airbnb employees, dream turns into disillusionment

sfgate.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–77 of 77 posts

Re: For Airbnb employees, dream turns into disillusionment

#71

Post by H8crilA »

doublerebel wrote: post #58
H8crilA wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those are some really dirty rules - to have the company sanction the transfer of its own securities. In principle it should be the other way around (i.e. shareholders decide what the company does, not company decides what shareholders do). Do you have examples of such contracts?

This is 100% standard for private companies, particularly startups. The company often prefers to buy back the equity rather than have it go to a disconnected third party. This First Right Of Refusal is often also explicitly outlined in the shareholders/purchase agreement. The largest shareholders with voting rights are who create this agreement. It's not dirty: it keeps incentives aligned because the shareholders hav…

Right of first refusal makes sense, it still exists in Europe for publicly traded companies. Shareholders of companies that issue new equity can sell their rights to other investors, or exercise those rights.

But what we have here is not only that but also a prohibition on sale to an outsider. So not only "we can intercept the sale at the same price you offered to someone else" but also "we can block that sale even if we don't want to participate in it".

Re: For Airbnb employees, dream turns into disillusionment

#72

Post by n7_goat »

asdfasgasdgasdg wrote: post #4

This is the number one reason I would not want to work for a startup. Even in the unlikely event that the company is successful, there's better than even odds that you won't be able to trade on that success for years to come. That means you're effectively locked in at the company until it suits the executives to let you out. No thanks. I'd rather have a higher salary and immediately tradable equity grants with a comp…

Even worse if you are acquired by another private company your shares are completely illiquid.

Re: For Airbnb employees, dream turns into disillusionment

#73

Post by rco8786 »

Judgmentality wrote: post #66
rco8786 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber the company will probably never make money. But you would have likely made plenty post-IPO

If all you want to do is make money, you should enter finance instead of tech.

This entire post is about making money. If you’re positing that your post was just about how you turned down Uber because the company wasn’t profitable then your comment has no relevance to this thread.

Re: For Airbnb employees, dream turns into disillusionment

#74

Post by Judgmentality »

rco8786 wrote: post #73
Judgmentality wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If all you want to do is make money, you should enter finance instead of tech.

This entire post is about making money. If you’re positing that your post was just about how you turned down Uber because the company wasn’t profitable then your comment has no relevance to this thread.

My entire post is about considering whether or not companies are going to succeed and thinking about that before accepting a job. You shouldn't blindly assume unicorns will be successful or would even be considered positive steps in your career (despite the money I turned down I am still incredibly happy I never worked at Uber).

Re: For Airbnb employees, dream turns into disillusionment

#75

Post by rco8786 »

Judgmentality wrote: post #74
rco8786 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This entire post is about making money. If you’re positing that your post was just about how you turned down Uber because the company wasn’t profitable then your comment has no relevance to this thread.

My entire post is about considering whether or not companies are going to succeed and thinking about that before accepting a job. You shouldn't blindly assume unicorns will be successful or would even be considered positive steps in your career (despite the money I turned down I am still incredibly happy I never worked at Uber).

The OP is about stock options going worthless. Uber’s most definitely did not do that. Really not sure what you’re getting at.

Re: For Airbnb employees, dream turns into disillusionment

#76

Post by Judgmentality »

rco8786 wrote: post #75
Judgmentality wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My entire post is about considering whether or not companies are going to succeed and thinking about that before accepting a job. You shouldn't blindly assume unicorns will be successful or would even be considered positive steps in your career (despite the money I turned down I am still incredibly happy I never worked at Uber).

The OP is about stock options going worthless. Uber’s most definitely did not do that. Really not sure what you’re getting at.

Uber employees still can't sell their stock for nearly 2 months, and it's on a downward trajectory. I think many employees are going to be upset with their "reward" for joining the ubercorn when they realize their shares are not worth what they were told (this is very different from being told they're worthless, however).

You are right though that my original comment is a bit of a tangent, so I apologize if I wandered a bit too much.

Re: For Airbnb employees, dream turns into disillusionment

#77

Post by rco8786 »

Judgmentality wrote: post #76
rco8786 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The OP is about stock options going worthless. Uber’s most definitely did not do that. Really not sure what you’re getting at.

Uber employees still can't sell their stock for nearly 2 months, and it's on a downward trajectory. I think many employees are going to be upset with their "reward" for joining the ubercorn when they realize their shares are not worth what they were told (this is very different from being told they're worthless, however). You are right though that my original comment is a bit of a tangent, so I apologize if I wandere…

All good. For what it’s worth I also turned down Uber about 5 years ago and am damn glad I did.
Post reply on HN