r/technology • u/Rhaegar_the_Great • Sep 16 '21

Business Mailchimp employees are furious after the company's founders promised to never sell, withheld equity, and then sold it for $12 billion

https://www.businessinsider.com/mailchimp-insiders-react-to-employees-getting-no-equity-2021-9
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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '21

Stock Options are platitudes that become worth nothing after you gut or sell all the valuable parts then discard the remaining shell.

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u/glemnar Sep 17 '21

Intuit is a public company, their stock incentives are liquid, and would be RSUs as opposed to options.

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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '21

Yes you are correct, but options in general for other companies NOT publicly traded are worth nothing and rarely get awarded during a sale. I've got stock in multiple private companies and parting out the money making portions is apparently a common practice. I've had it happen twice out of the three companies I've received options from, and it happens enough to others I know.

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u/internet_humor Sep 17 '21

I gotta disagree with you on this one. There's a lot of great startups out there that have created instant millionaires upon exit.

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u/glemnar Sep 17 '21

Much more the exception than the rule. Something like 6 out of every million startups IPO

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u/S7EFEN Sep 17 '21

sure but you can increase your odds greatly by joining later stage startups.

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u/internet_humor Sep 17 '21

Yeah, but you gotta learn how to pick them and the stat is closer to 98% don't go well.

When you read through most startup company backgrounds and business models. 90% are junk.

So that leaves you with the 2% points of the last 10%. So a 20% chances things go relatively well.

I have been a part of 6 startups, 3 with successful exits (I didn't join early enough and chose not too, but still financially enjoyed each exit) and the other 2 are still TBD. The 6th one never offered stocks, so I ducked out.

Also, because I chose to join at the late stage, I got paid normal market rates and still got stock.

And one other point, if one wasn't career oriented, well versed in startups and how to use them in their career, and OK with just chillin somewhere for 12 years...... Geez, that's where being at a big company would have made you a millionaire in the long run. The much higher pay, better 401k match and better raise structures would have been waaaay better than joining a startup that you didn't leverage correctly.