

Ask HN:  Should I exercise my stock options? - throwaway958123

Hey HN,<p>TL;DR:  I&#x27;m leaving my job at a pre-series A startup. Is it worth exercising my stock options? It would cost $15k for 2% of shares outstanding.<p>I&#x27;m a long-time HN user posting from a throwaway account -- hoping someone here has experience with this.<p>More info:<p>I decided to leave my job as an engineer at a startup. My vested shares amount to 2% of total shares outstanding. Once the company&#x27;s convertible notes convert to equity, I&#x27;ll be diluted down to 1.5%. They haven&#x27;t raised a series A, yet.<p>My stock option contract stipulates that I must exercise within 3 months of leaving, or the options expire. The cost of exercising is about $15k (vested shares * strike price). My life savings is 60k. I&#x27;m 24.<p>What would you do in this situation? What are some things to consider? Are there ways to exercise without paying until the company exits?<p>What do most people do in this situation? I&#x27;d really appreciate any advice.<p>Thanks guys
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doctorwho
What are the odds you'll ever be able to sell your shares?

Are you going to make more than if you invested that 15K today at a reasonable
(but safe) rate of return?

What are the odds that the company goes belly up or you can't sell? Could you
live with a 100% loss?

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NonEUCitizen
Remember it's NOT a binary decision. You can exercise _some_ , e.g. perhaps
$7.5K for 1%, or $3.75K for 0.5%. Don't think of it as zero or $15K.

