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> If Uber still hasn't gone public, when do you think Gusto is? IPO is only one of the exit strategies available, acquisitions being another one (selling to th
by fosk 10y ago
> If Uber still hasn't gone public, when do you think Gusto is?
IPO is only one of the exit strategies available, acquisitions being another one (selling to the private market being another one, etc). A company doesn't necessarily have to IPO in order to return a value to its shareholders.
- enobrev 10y agoUnfortunately, an acquisition isn't necessarily all that valuable to employees.
- duaneb 10y agoHow do you figure? If they've vested they'll make cash.
- icedchai 10y agoWrong. Have you ever been part of an acquisition? More than likely you are given stock (or options, if you're still vesting) in the acquiring company. This can happen several times over, as your acquirer is acquired. You may, infact, never make any cash...
- fosk 10y agoOr you may make even more money if the acquirer is a public company and you know when to sell. Stocks are an opportunity that can accelerate your net worth by a double digit multiplier if you, as an employee, know where to bet your time and expertise.
- duaneb 10y agoSeems like a poorly negotiated acquisition if your employees don't get anything of value out of it. Hell of a way to encourage work.
- icedchai 10y agoIt does leave a bad taste in employees' mouths. When I left my last company (which acquired the startup I was an early employee at), I did exercise most of my options (all the ones at the lowest strike price.) Just in case. It cost me about $5K. Maybe it will amount to something...
- st3v3r 10y agoDepends on who's point you look at it from. The investors and the founders get to make out pretty well, so to them it's a success. The acquiring company doesn't have to pay a lot of employees actual money, and they give them something which handcuffs them to the company for a while, so to them it's a success.
- slezakattack 10y agoNot guaranteed. If you exercise your options at company X, say $20 per share, left company X, and company Y buys company X for $10 per share, then you just lost money. I imagine this is pretty rare but it's possible for a company to acquire another and strictly buy all preferred stock instead of common stock and then all employees get nothing [0]. [0] This happened to a friend of mine where all execs had preferred stock and were totally fine selling the company and screwing over the employees. Make sure your founders/execs have common stock so that everyone is on the same playing field...
- icedchai 10y agoThis actually happened to me during the first bubble. A large, public company acquired a former employer for less than the most recent valuation. None of the common stock holders got anything. Some of the preferred holders were paid out.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- kylec 10y agoNo, but being a public company makes it a lot easier for employees to exercise and sell stock options.