That is why I say they would offer them as NQSO stock options. Not ISO stock options. I would never need to actually exercise the stock options if I can neve

That is why I say they would offer them as NQSO stock options. Not ISO stock options. I would never need to actually exercise the stock options if I can never sell the things profitably anyway. I can even wait a while until after an IPO theoretically to wait and avoid a dot com bubble AMT nightmare that happened in the early 2000s. When I can actually sell the options, then the price of about %5 extra in taxes (short term vs long term capital gains) is small compared to the taxation paperwork and paying for stock that has a good chance of being worthless. If a company is liquid or soon to be liquid when I start working for them, then the extra bonus treatment of ISOs is fine and I understand putting that limit inside there, because the stock isn't worthless and I can sell it when I leave the company.