There are some funds that some of my former coworkers talked to that will front all of the money to exercise your options, plus pay the taxes, in return for pay

There are some funds that some of my former coworkers talked to that will front all of the money to exercise your options, plus pay the taxes, in return for paying the money back for the above, plus 30% of the profits. You're basically borrowing the money to exercise and pay your taxes and then giving up 30% of the upside. It's seems like a good deal to me since you take on zero risk, especially if you're in that situation described in the blog post. I won't advertise their name, but they seem legit and know several people that took them up on their offer.