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Windsurf employee #2: I was given a payout of only 1% what my shares where worth

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Re: Windsurf employee #2: I was given a payout of only 1% what my shares where worth

#531
post #260

The details here remain unclear to me, and even this tweet is somewhat vague. > I was given an offer that would explode same day. I had to forfeit all of my vested shares earned over my 3.5+ years at Windsurf. I was ultimately given a payout of only 1% of what my shares would have been worth at the time of the deal. Was forfeiting the vested shares conditional on accepting the offer, or did he have no choice over the…

Pretty clear that OP signed away his shares and ended up with only 1% of what they were worth.

Presumably they told him his shares would be worthless anyway an if he didn't take this "great offer" it would expire when he left the room and he would get nothing...

...and he fell for it.

It wasn't dilution of other things people are talking about here... those things happen but this guy straight up just got had.

So sure equity is worthless... if you sign it away.

Re: Windsurf employee #2: I was given a payout of only 1% what my shares where worth

#532
post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why you don't retire in a country with private healthcare

My parents live in the UK which has free healthcare. The situation is dire. The waitlist for chronic pain surgeries are 3-4 years long. Lots of people, including my parents, have resorted to flying out to other cheaper countries to get treatment.

> The waitlist for chronic pain surgeries are 3-4 years long

The NHS has _many_ problems, don't get me wrong. But 3-4 years for "chronic pain surgery" isnt one of them. There are huge wait times, but 3-4 years is not representative. (Hip replacement times are ~4 months, much higher than it used to be)

Would I fly out to turkey to get a knee done? fuck no, half the problem is physio. Can you fly out and do it? you sure can.

This kind of doomerism is going to lead to farage getting his way and replacing universal healthcare for shitty half arsed insurance.

Re: Windsurf employee #2: I was given a payout of only 1% what my shares where worth

#533

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t get it, at this point you move to Baja or Portugal (for similar climate) and live like a king without ever having to work again (unless you want to). Or a cheaper east coast state if you wanna stay in the US on the coast and have access to to all the same fast food and Walmarts.

How does medical care factor in to your plans? Do those places have equivalent access to care if you stay in or around the main cities? Even something like living in the countryside domestically would worry me (that is, longer times between calling for help and it arriving, then time to be transported to a medical centre or hospital, and then probably getting transported to the city anyway for access to advanced medi…

Spain and Portugal have excellent, affordable healthcare (part time resident).

Re: Windsurf employee #2: I was given a payout of only 1% what my shares where worth

#534

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is another variable. Find better companies to work for. If you don't think this is a unicorn, don't work for them. If this is another stablecoin startup leveraging quantum AI then you deserve what you get, cash comp or no.

If anyone knew how to spot unicorns, the industry would be very different.

There are certain unicorns; I've worked for one. There are maybe unicorns; I've worked for a few.

Then there are non-unicorns. These may even start as maybe unicorns. But as soon as you know it's never going to be a unicorn, you can leave. Or stay, prospects depending. If you know it's never going to be a unicorn before you even join, you can think of it as glorified contracting. Done that too. Maybe lean on compensation rather than options because a whole lot of nothing is, tap-tap-tap, nothing.

BTW, VCs think along similar lines.

Re: Windsurf employee #2: I was given a payout of only 1% what my shares where worth

#535

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kind of a non-starter. No one is going to found and invest in a cooperative.

i started a business that i'm planning to organize as a cooperative. currently looking for funding and it's hard because the structure is foreign to investors, though it's a business structure that is proven to work. maybe if more people organized their enterprises this way then it would be easier to find investment.

Yes, it takes some education. I've founded a cooperative in Finland and, although the legislation here is very favourable to cooperatives, it took me months to convince PRH (the public register) to certify our bylaws which included an option for investment shares. But we did it!

Do seek professional help. It doesn't need to be expensive lawyers, there may be gratis support from the cooperative network. https://ica.coop/en

Re: Windsurf employee #2: I was given a payout of only 1% what my shares where worth

#536
post #500

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Startup equity is worth a lot: https://www.amafinance.org/startup_comp/

Maybe useful for VCs who have a portfolio of companies and need to put stuff in their presentations to LPs. If you’re an employee you can’t look at this like an investor would. Your risk profile is completely different. The write up is correct in that it’s basically a call option, correctly point out there is no market for it and then ignore the fact that zero liquidity means you can land a 747 between the bid and as…

An employee can repeat jobs over and over. Assumption is an exit eventually occurs - same thing VCs feel as well.

Re: Windsurf employee #2: I was given a payout of only 1% what my shares where worth

#537
post #392
post #388

Earlier quoted context omitted.

lol no. Private health insurance in Germany is ~800-1000 for a 60 y.o. – public insurance might be cheaper, but you need to qualify for that when you move here by working as an employee when you're that old. Working permission will require you to work full time. So you'll end up working full time and pay ~600-1200 (based on your salary) in contributions.

I never said public healthcare is free for strangers. It’s rarely the case. Most of the time if you are not a citizen you need to either work or pay taxes. In fact even if you are a citizen, you may not be covered if you live abroad. It’s relatively easy to be covered as a stranger : in 99% of situations, if you just set up here seriously and not as a tourist, you’ll be covered. I count a 60yo who never contributed t…

You’ve answered to a comment that commented on a 75 USD/month health insurance. This is off by a factor of 5-10x for Europe.

Re: Windsurf employee #2: I was given a payout of only 1% what my shares where worth

#538

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but if you're 10+ years into your career and have been financially conservative (i.e. have a positive net worth), a lump sum of $1m could be enough to retire to a lower-cost location.

If you're willing to be fiscally conservative, go to a cheaper location, and continue working on side projects you don't need the payout at all. The question everyone seems to be asking is "is the payout worth spending the first ten years of your career in the West Coast startup scene." Ten years is quite a lot of time to spend somewhere you don't actually want to live.

The converse(?) is also true; how easy is it to leave somewhere you've made roots (family, friends, community) in for a decade or two?

Re: Windsurf employee #2: I was given a payout of only 1% what my shares where worth

#539

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First, your stock has a much higher than 50% chance of being worth less, even at the best startups. This is why early stage investors invest in so many companies… a vast majority are worth zero, but the few that make it big pay for all those and more. This is why you would never see an early stage investor invest in only one company. They need volume to be able to survive the high risk/high reward nature of startup i…

I didn't claim my risk is lower, but as my link notes I can quit and recall my investment while the investors cannot.

How does quitting "recall" the investment?

Re: Windsurf employee #2: I was given a payout of only 1% what my shares where worth

#540

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're making his point. 4br in only 2k sqft? For 2M? Please...

I'm not saying the prices are reasonable. I'm saying $2.2M for a "shithole 1300sqft" doesn't make sense when you can pay $2M for a nice 2279sqft.

Sorry, but this reads like you contradicting yourself.

~"Not saying X, but... X."

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