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All in Stock Options
The hardest part about being an owner in anything is knowing when -or if- you don't want to be an owner anymore. For anyone who has ISO or RSU stock options, you know what I'm talking about. If you sell your stock and it skyrockets afterwards, you locked in a lower price (and massive FOMO). If you DON'T sell, and it tanks afterwards, you are stuck with a bunch of nearly worthless stock.
I've had a couple of questions swirling around my mind recently, and for whatever reason they all had to do Unicorns (startups value at $1b or more).
Go work for a startup! If you work in technology, chances are you've heard this advice, or you've thought about it on your own, or you're already working for a startup. In any case, I've noticed that there are tons of questions on Quora and Reddit and various other sites with people wondering how to find the "right" startup to join, which usually seems to actually mean "how do I choose a company that's going to make me rich." That's a little narrow-minded maybe, but it's reasonable to wonder how to find a company worth joining.
One of the biggest challenges people face when evaluating job offers that include Incentive Stock Options is understanding how to value their ISO grant. In order to do that, you have to know how many shares you have, how many shares there are total, and a rough estimate for how much the shares are worth now. Let’s take a look at why, before we delve into how to find those numbers.
ISOs (incentive stock options) vest over time, giving you the ability to purchase shares at a discounted rate and participate in the (potential) rise of your employers stock. If used properly, they are also tax advantaged.
