Well yeah, if you had options in a private company that has grown your equity from $20k to $2M over 7 years... you'd find a way to exercise. Surely that company

Well yeah, if you had options in a private company that has grown your equity from $20k to $2M over 7 years... you'd find a way to exercise. Surely that company would have demonstrated enough value that your could borrow the money safely or use one of the option-funding schemes to cover the $700K tax bill. But better that than scrounging $20k together when you quit only to see it evaporate.