My experience has been that options have negative value. I learned this the hard way when I exercised options from a firm that has since gone sideways. I ended

My experience has been that options have negative value. I learned this the hard way when I exercised options from a firm that has since gone sideways. I ended up with a $40,000 tax bill on stock that is worthless. Nowadays I only look at companies that can offer RSUs. Until the re-write the tax code to stop taxing people on fictional gains, options are crap, especially with companies remaining private far longer than you are likely to remain working there.