There isn't a $60K - $100K option, but that would be me.
I think the 61K - $150K option covers that pretty well.
That wasn't there before, I'm almost positive.
Poll: How much did you earn from your stock options during exit?
91–100 of 191 posts
Re: Poll: How much did you earn from your stock options during exit?
#92I believe that the exact amount was $112 (net). Unbeknownst to most, our executives screwed everyone over and issued preferred stock to a major investment bank. I, and many others, had thousands of options, but the share price for common shares was too low for most grants to be worth anything. The executives all received bonuses for the sale from the investment bank.
Same here
Re: Poll: How much did you earn from your stock options during exit?
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe you should let us know what the startup was, as well as the people behind it, so we can avoid working with them.
I'd prefer to be the better person here rather than defame them publicly. If anyone would like more information or to discuss this privately, however, my email is in my profile.
I don't like that this position is assumed by default by so many wronged parties on HN. If you're really eager to take the noble path, explain the story as objectively as you can and let other people decide. Letting other people get burned when they easily could've learned from your experience is not a noble thing.
Re: Poll: How much did you earn from your stock options during exit?
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
Depends on the contract. It could be argued as unconscionable but that is a different matter.
You're suggesting that having classes of shares is unconscionable? If the idea of preferred shares shocks your conscience, you should spend a lot more time studying how startup financing works (at a nuts and bolts level) before taking the plunge and working at one.
I'd appreciate it if you can recommend some books/articles on the subject.
Re: Poll: How much did you earn from your stock options during exit?
#95For the startup founders out there - Is it getting harder to find talent? Are you having to pay more? Are employees more well informed in matters related to equity?
Re: Poll: How much did you earn from your stock options during exit?
#96Wow...I have a whole new appreciation for how unbelievably lucky I got. Never even worked in Silicon Valley and had multiple exits that were, judging from this poll data, quite anomalous. Even when I was the employee. When I started out I had no clue about exits or options or any of it. It was just another number on my offer letter. I took the job because I wanted to learn and do some fun graphics programming. It rea…
Well, on my two startups I got nothing, twice.
Re: Poll: How much did you earn from your stock options during exit?
#97First employee hired at a startup. Paid for my options before leaving the company. Six months later the company was acquihired by Google. Three months after that I was given paperwork informing me that those shares are now worth exactly $0.00/each. Founders made out well enough from the deal to pick up high-end luxury sports cars though, which is the important part of an exit, right?
In this scenario it's equivalent to all of the founders quitting, shutting the company down, and going to work for Google, right? Ie. Google didn't buy / shouldn't own any of the company's assets?
No. It is equivalent to buying the preferred shares at $X/share, which obtains voting control of the board, cutting the founders a check (not for shares), and zeroing out the common.
This is always possible with a company with a significant interest controlled by the preferred (which is another way of saying: a company funded by VCs.)
Re: Poll: How much did you earn from your stock options during exit?
#98You'd have to be pretty dumb to be an employee at a startup because of the money: bad hours, lots of risk, bad pay and lots of personal confrontation.
exactly! You take almost as much risk and work just as many hours as when you work for yourself. Except you own very little in equity (as a developer, usually less than 10%) and you have no control over what happens with the company (usually when VC takes over, they will be trying to make an ROI asap at the expense of any long-term plans).
10%? I think it is more in the lines of 3% as an early employee and it goes down from there.
Re: Poll: How much did you earn from your stock options during exit?
#99First employee hired at a startup. Paid for my options before leaving the company. Six months later the company was acquihired by Google. Three months after that I was given paperwork informing me that those shares are now worth exactly $0.00/each. Founders made out well enough from the deal to pick up high-end luxury sports cars though, which is the important part of an exit, right?
There are a number of reasons this could have happened:
1. You left before any of your stock vested. Assuming a standard four year vesting schedule and a one year cliff, this makes complete sense. (Although you are saying that you paid for your options, so this likely isn't the case here).
2. The company got shut down, its assets liquidated, and the founders and a select group of employees went to work for Google. This is perfectly sensible from a legal/operational standpoint, but is really unethical if the founders didn't take care of existing stock holders.
3. The founders had liquidation preferences that employees didn't have. This seems really unethical to me, but it's also something you could have seen when joining the company by doing the legal diligence.
Bottom line here is do the diligence, understand the mechanics so there is no confusion as to what they are later, and, most importantly, make sure company founders are decent people who'll pick the high road if/when presented with a choice. I don't think I could live with myself if I had to look in my fancy, gold-plated mirror every morning knowing that I screwed people that trusted me to lead them out of what's rightfully theirs. Make sure you get a good vibe from the people you work for - nothing can substitute chemistry, character judgement, and basic human decency.
Re: Poll: How much did you earn from your stock options during exit?
#100First employee hired at a startup. Paid for my options before leaving the company. Six months later the company was acquihired by Google. Three months after that I was given paperwork informing me that those shares are now worth exactly $0.00/each. Founders made out well enough from the deal to pick up high-end luxury sports cars though, which is the important part of an exit, right?
In this scenario it's equivalent to all of the founders quitting, shutting the company down, and going to work for Google, right? Ie. Google didn't buy / shouldn't own any of the company's assets?
I might agree with you, but we'd need more information to really know for sure.
A minute of Googling turns up TechCrunch speculating YC and other investors got paid back in this deal, in which case I'd say this is pretty sleazy.