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The 90 day exercise window for stock options really catches some non-finance employees off guard. They don't realize the high amount of tax and investment that
by chrdlu 12y ago
The 90 day exercise window for stock options really catches some non-finance employees off guard. They don't realize the high amount of tax and investment that has to be made for illiquid shares (which are still pretty risky for most start ups). That being said, there are a few options that I feel more people should know about including the Employee Stock Option Fund (http://esofund.com/ http://esofund.com/). If you fall within the 90 day period, I would highly suggest sending them an email. They are able to produce the money very quickly and will do their best to help you.
- erichurkman 12y agoSam Altman advocates for a longer exercise window [0] as part of his piece on employee equity. More early-stage companies are adopting it, but it's not without complications. For example, 90 days after termination ISO shares convert to NSO shares, which are a different beast for taxation purposes -- employers/employees rarely understand ISO shares, let alone ISO+NSO. [0] http://blog.samaltman.com/employee-equity http://blog.samaltman.com/employee-equity [1] I work @eShares.
- chrdlu 12y agoI think thats a good move in the right direction, but the fact remains that startups are risky in general. Taxes + the exercise price of a slightly less risky startup (higher strike price) can unexpectedly add up to quite a bit of money for employees less familiar with stock options. It would be cool to find ways to diversify that risk or sell part of it to someone who is willing to take it on.