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Yes, it's my understanding the company will sometimes offer ways to finance the options purchase such as cashless exercise, or promissory note. Alternatively you can taking out a loan (anything from a general loan, to a specialize 'options exercise loan'). Cribbed this answer from the longer form one here: https://www.quora.com/How-am-I-supposed-to-afford-my-stock-o...

Most banks will give you that loan if the stock is liquid and actually evaluatable.

But if something happens on your way from the bank to the stock sale, guess who still has to pay back all that money.

It's common to perform a sell-to-purchase, covering the stock purchase with the sale of itself.

Unless there's buyers for that stock lined up, what you're buying is only worth a million on paper.