This all sounds nice but it ignores the issue of liquidity... You can't afford to exercise your options because you can't sell them. The secondary market sound

This all sounds nice but it ignores the issue of liquidity... You can't afford to exercise your options because you can't sell them. The secondary market sounds nice in principle but I never had success with it. And if you can afford to buy them you have to budget for the tax bill that will hit you with the AMT truck. The move to the 10 year option exercise period helps though so you should only consider companies that offer that. 30 days, 1 year.. not long enough.. 10 years might be enough.. For example, Palantir has been in business for 16 years with no IPO in the near future. So the "deal" here, or the implicit bargain isn't great.