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Comment by avg_dev | Hacker News Reader

I am sure this says more about me than anything but if a company lays me off there is zero chance of me exercising options in that company.

Edit: I read the link and it appears to apply to RSUs as well. What I said about options is true but RSUs, different story. I’d sell those for sure.

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Why not? Options are usually "in the money" so if you don't exercise them you are throwing away money which you already earned.

Perhaps I’ve had bad luck but I’ve never had options that would have been worth anything.

That's regular luck, or at least not bad. Options worth > $0 is an occasion of very, very good luck.

> Options worth > $0 is an occasion of very, very good luck.

Why do you think that?

It doesn’t require ‘very, very good luck’ for most companies shares to not collapse.

If you work for a big company like Oracle or IBM your options have cash value no luck needed.

Options as tech startup employee compensation vs. Options in general

> Oracle or IBM

What? These are public companies; short-dated OTM options have > $0 value only in volatile markets. But these companies don't pay employees in options.

That's expected. Most startups never recoup the funding they raised.

This is true for liquid options. Startup options are not liquid, there is a chance they’re illiquid until the company folds or is bought- and in an acquisition of a struggling company they’re likely to prioritize higher share classes before common stock gets to see a piece of the price.

They’re extending the exercise window to 5 (or more years) for laid off employees. There’s no reason not to at least hold on to the options until IPO.

Patreon is not publicy traded, so your ability to sell any RSUs is very limited.

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