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“In a nutshell, we’re going to be nice. We’re going to be ethical. We’re going to be respectful of our drivers,” he said. In that talk, Marco said his partners

“In a nutshell, we’re going to be nice. We’re going to be ethical. We’re going to be respectful of our drivers,” he said. In that talk, Marco said his partners planned to give drivers a stake in the company. In fact, it had suggested it would set aside 50 percent of the company’s founding shares for drivers, as we previously reported. Initial reports on the deal indicated that all shares accumulated by drivers would be nullified in the acquisition Another driver forwarded us a letter that offered $251 for 14,173 restricted shares, a value of roughly $0.02 per share. This post[0], shared on the UberPeople forum, shows an estimated value for restricted shares at $0.20 each, last July. At least Uber isn't hiding behind some sign claiming to be ethical. [0]https://uberpeople.net/threads/juno-refer-a-driver-get-a-bonus.92609/ https://uberpeople.net/threads/juno-refer-a-driver-get-a-bon...

seibelj 9y ago
2 cents a share is better than nothing, which is what I got from the last startup I worked at that got acquired...
- s73ver 9y ago
  It's still pretty insulting.
- hinkley 9y ago
  I worked at a place where, when we got acquired, our shares were worth about $40,000, so everybody was pretty happy. Then the stock tanked. And tanked. Six months later (1 year vestment) they were underwater, and still dropping. Everybody was miserable. If they had just handed us $250 on the day of the sale, I believe we would have been a little unhappy but we would have gotten over it.
basseq 9y ago
Careful reading too much into that. There's a difference between, "We will give you $100 or 500 RSUs" and "The street value of a RSU today is $0.20". How many times have we seen startups say, "We can't pay you a $100k salary, but we can pay you $50k and XYZ stock options, which is just as good because the company is going to explode!" That does not mean that XYZ stock options are worth $50k at grant.
- s73ver 9y ago
  How many times have we seen a company get acquired for a kingly sum, and right before the acquisition, the company plays tricks with the stock so the employees get jack shit?
  - basseq 9y ago
    Once would be too many, but I suspect most of the "tricks" (liquidation preferences, "secret" cap tables, etc.) are in play well before an acquisition. The acquisition is just laying your cards on the table.

seibelj 9y ago

2 cents a share is better than nothing, which is what I got from the last startup I worked at that got acquired...

s73ver 9y ago
It's still pretty insulting.
hinkley 9y ago
I worked at a place where, when we got acquired, our shares were worth about $40,000, so everybody was pretty happy. Then the stock tanked. And tanked. Six months later (1 year vestment) they were underwater, and still dropping. Everybody was miserable. If they had just handed us $250 on the day of the sale, I believe we would have been a little unhappy but we would have gotten over it.

basseq 9y ago

Careful reading too much into that. There's a difference between, "We will give you $100 or 500 RSUs" and "The street value of a RSU today is $0.20". How many times have we seen startups say, "We can't pay you a $100k salary, but we can pay you $50k and XYZ stock options, which is just as good because the company is going to explode!" That does not mean that XYZ stock options are worth $50k at grant.

s73ver 9y ago
How many times have we seen a company get acquired for a kingly sum, and right before the acquisition, the company plays tricks with the stock so the employees get jack shit?
- basseq 9y ago
  Once would be too many, but I suspect most of the "tricks" (liquidation preferences, "secret" cap tables, etc.) are in play well before an acquisition. The acquisition is just laying your cards on the table.