
Ask HN: Considering Offer with Late-Stage Pre-IPO Company with private RSU's - _august
The role seems like a great fit, but I&#x27;m evaluating the comp.<p>Is this a risk? How big of a risk? Should I look at public companies instead?<p>They are offering RSUs but are private. From my understanding, I will have to pay taxes on this but won&#x27;t get to sell them until if&#x2F;when they IPO. Is this typical, is this really risky? Could it get diluted? They are a major player in business for 15+ years.<p>Looking for any advice.
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rmk
RSUs get taxed pretty much like normal income when they vest; you pay capital
gains on them when you sell (assuming they are worth more than what they cost
at the time of vesting). But, if the company is private, there may not be a
market for the shares, so you may not see any money if the company doesn't go
public/get acquired.

Edit: The risk angle relates to the time horizon (yours and the company's) and
the valuation (the company may be overvalued and offering you RSUs based on
said overvalued price per share). Additionally, there is always the dilution
risk in the event of a 'down round', where the company does not increase in
value but has to issue additional shares to raise capital (if the company is
growing in value, dilution affects will cut the value of said RSUs less than
in the previous case).

If you want to see actual money from the RSUs by a certain time in the future,
then the time horizon comes into play a bit more --- what if the company has
no plans for a liquidity event within said time horizon?

