Yeah, you are right on the point that if you are not able to exercise now you might not be able exercise later also. It's still lesser of the 2 evils imo becaus

Yeah, you are right on the point that if you are not able to exercise now you might not be able exercise later also. It's still lesser of the 2 evils imo because: 1/ many companies have liquidity events as they mature. So you may not have to wait for IPO/exit 2/ In 10 years you often know if the companies gonna go anywhere. So if you feel the company's ngmi, might as well not exercise. I have also heard some companies fixing their exercise price (as in its not tied to 409A) to $1 or some small value like this. That seems like the best option