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"Successful" has a different meaning depending on your title. I work for a successful startup and all the c-levels are happy, but as developer #1 I am very unh
by throwaway292901 8y ago
"Successful" has a different meaning depending on your title. I work for a successful startup and all the c-levels are happy, but as developer #1 I am very unhappy. The goal was acquisition. We developers did our job: we iterated on several products until one of them struck gold and is minting money. We are ready to move on. The founders are enjoying the success and have put less priority on acquisition. As a "stay-up" we are now in the growth phase: more middle-tier, more process, more meetings, more politics, more hiring, more distractions, etc. Due to our success, I can no longer afford the taxes on exercising my options. I'm completely locked up with golden handcuffs. I want to leave, but if I do and they sell in the next couple of years I don't think I could handle it. I feel stuck and it's starting to affect my mental health.
- liquidise 8y agoHave the founders considered a profit-sharing solution in the interim? No matter how profitable the current circumstances are, every startup ive been a part of would badly want to solve for the response you wrote about. Particularly in an early engineer who (i assume) knows basically everyone about the codebase and surrounding tech.
- bm1362 8y agoWhy not talk to the ESO fund to see if they’ll pay your tax bill?
- drfuchs 8y agoAnyone considering a “developer #1” position at a (presumably pre-money, low valuation) company is well-advised to insist on pre-exercising their options to avoid exactly this conundrum. You should even be able to get the cost covered with a signing bonus, since the company will get the cash right back. Then you can quit any time and keep all your vested shares, with no tax consequences. Worked out swell for me. Consult a real tax attorney, of course.