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Maybe I’m alone but my initial reaction was: “oh 30% doesn’t sound that bad”.

wpietri 9y ago
It's really bad for anybody who has options. The last time Uber's valuation was this low was 2 1/2 years ago. I don't know how Uber did employee equity, but if it was options with a valuation based on the numbers we're seeing in public, then somebody who joined 2 years ago would just have had their equity stake drop to $0. And in some sense it's negative, in that even if the valuation goes up modestly, their stake is still worthless. After putting up with all the internal bullshit and the bad press, that'd be quite a kick in the gut. If that's what Uber is doing internally, then in practice I imagine they're going to have to give out a lot more options to keep everybody happy.
- pedrosorio 9y ago
  Uber has been making offers in RSUs for more than 2 years: https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/3u5asj/uber_rsu_offer/ https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/3u5asj/u...
  - wpietri 9y ago
    Ah, good point. Here's confirmation of that from the NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/technology/uber-said-to-consider-changes-to-employee-stock-compensation.html?_r=0 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/technology/uber-said-to-c... For the people who have options, some could still be entirely wiped out by this, but it's not as big a problem for new hires. It's still a problem, though. As the Reddit discussion makes clear, people are benchmarking against things like Google. The equivalent equity package from Google 2 years ago would have gained 30% in value, while the Uber one has lost 30%. Assuming $200k in equity from each place, that's $260k for Google and $140k for Uber, or nearly a 2x difference. That would sure make me think about jumping ship.
    - acchow 9y ago
      Uber was handing out 4x in fictional equity back then compared to Google's real RSUs.
- brucephillips 9y ago
  > if it was options with a valuation based on the numbers we're seeing in public. It's not. Public numbers are based on preferred shares. Options are common.

It's really bad for anybody who has options. The last time Uber's valuation was this low was 2 1/2 years ago. I don't know how Uber did employee equity, but if it was options with a valuation based on the numbers we're seeing in public, then somebody who joined 2 years ago would just have had their equity stake drop to $0. And in some sense it's negative, in that even if the valuation goes up modestly, their stake is still worthless. After putting up with all the internal bullshit and the bad press, that'd be quite a kick in the gut. If that's what Uber is doing internally, then in practice I imagine they're going to have to give out a lot more options to keep everybody happy.

pedrosorio 9y ago
Uber has been making offers in RSUs for more than 2 years: https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/3u5asj/uber_rsu_offer/ https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/3u5asj/u...
- wpietri 9y ago
  Ah, good point. Here's confirmation of that from the NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/technology/uber-said-to-consider-changes-to-employee-stock-compensation.html?_r=0 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/technology/uber-said-to-c... For the people who have options, some could still be entirely wiped out by this, but it's not as big a problem for new hires. It's still a problem, though. As the Reddit discussion makes clear, people are benchmarking against things like Google. The equivalent equity package from Google 2 years ago would have gained 30% in value, while the Uber one has lost 30%. Assuming $200k in equity from each place, that's $260k for Google and $140k for Uber, or nearly a 2x difference. That would sure make me think about jumping ship.
  - acchow 9y ago
    Uber was handing out 4x in fictional equity back then compared to Google's real RSUs.
brucephillips 9y ago
> if it was options with a valuation based on the numbers we're seeing in public. It's not. Public numbers are based on preferred shares. Options are common.