Startup Equity - Ownership - Can the Company Take Back My Vested Shares?

This is a companion piece to the Gold Standard of Startup Equity - A Guide for Employees. It describes why startup employees should ask about Standard #1: Ownership: Can the Company Take Back My Vested Shares?

Image republished with permission of Babak Nivi of Venture Hacks, who warns startup employees to "run screaming from" any startup equity offer that gives the company the right to repurchase vested stock: "Some option plans provide the company the right to repurchase your vested stock upon your departure. The purchase price is 'fair market value.' Guess whether the definition of fair market value is favorable to you or the company... Founders and employees should not agree to this provision under any circumstances. Read your option plan carefully."

The news loves a gold rush story about a Google chef or a Facebook muralist who made millions on startup employee equity. But not all startup equity is created equal. If a startup adds "repurchase rights for vested shares" to its employee stock agreements, its employees have to keep their jobs all the way until an IPO or acquisition in order to get the full value of their shares.  If you're working at a tech startup with a gold rush dream, make sure you avoid the dreaded:

Repurchase rights for vested shares are "horrible for employees" - YC's Sam Altman

In a true startup equity plan, employees earn shares of common stock which they continue to own when they leave the company. Just as they would own shares of public company stock they bought through a broker, they own their startup stock until they are paid for the shares when they company is acquired or they are able to sell them on the public markets after an IPO. There are special rules about vesting and requirements for exercising options, but once the shares are vested and purchased, the employees of true startups have true ownership rights.

But some startups design their equity plans so that employees earn shares that they don't really own. If the company includes repurchase rights for vested shares, the company can purchase the employees' shares upon certain events, most commonly after an employee leaves the company or is terminated by the company. Most repurchase rights expire after an IPO or acquisition so that if the employee is still there at the IPO or acquisition they get the full value of the shares. If not, the company can buy back the shares at a discounted price, called the "fair market value" of the common stock on the date of the buyback ("FMV").

These repurchase rights are included in stock option plans, stock option agreements or company bylaws, but most employees do not know about these value-limiting terms when they join a company or even when they choose to exercise their stock options. That's why the Gold Standard of Startup Equity - A Guide for Employees - suggests that employees ask before they accept startup equity: Can the Company take back my vested shares?

How Repurchase Rights Take away Employee Equity Value

One might think that an employee might be happy to sell their shares to the company. But repurchase rights are not designed with the employee's interests in mind. They allow the company to buy the shares back against the employees will and at a discounted price per share. As Y Combinator head Sam Altman wrote, "Some companies now write in a repurchase right on vested shares at the current common price when an employee leaves.  It’s fine if the company wants to offer to repurchase the shares, but it’s horrible for the company to be able to demand this."

The  common price at the date of repurchase is not the true value for two reasons. First, the true value of common stock is close to the preferred stock price per share (the price that is paid by investors for stock and which is used to define the value of the startup). Second, the real value of owning startup stock comes at the exit event - IPO or acquisition. This early buyback prevents the employee realizing that value.

Example - Company Does NOT Have Repurchase Rights for Vested Shares - Employee Value: $1.7 Million

Here's an example of how an employee in a true startup earns the value of startup stock. The company cannot buy his or her shares at departure, so he or she holds them until IPO. In the case of an early employee of Ruckus Wireless, Inc., the value would have grown as shown below.

This is an example of a hypothetical early employee of Ruckus Wireless, which went public in 2012. It assumes that the company did not offer equity with the "horrible" repurchase rights for vested shares. Therefore, the employee was able to hold his or her shares until IPO and earn $1.7 million. These calculations were estimated from company public filings with the State of California, the State of Delaware, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. For more on these calculations, see The One Percent: How 1% of Ruckus Wireless at Series A Became $1.7 million at IPO. 

If you want to see the working calculations, visit the document on GoogleDocs.

Example - Company DOES Have Repurchase Rights for Vested Shares - Employee Value: $68,916

If the company had the right to repurchase the shares at the fair market value of the common stock at the employee's departure, and the employee left after four years of service when his shares were fully vested, the buyout price would have been $68,916 (estimated). This would have taken away a value of $1,635,054 by the time of the IPO:

Hypothetical - If the company could have repurchased the vested shares at departure, the employee would have lost $1,635,054 in value. When you are evaluating an equity offer, always ask: Can the company take back my vested shares? For more, see Gold Standard of Startup Equity - A Guide for Employees. If you want to see the working calculations, visit the document on GoogleDocs.

If you want to see the working calculations, visit the document on GoogleDocs.

Here's the point:

When you are evaluating your startup equity, find out if the company has the right to repurchase your vested shares. If they can do so, you don't really own them. That changes their value significantly. If you have the power to negotiate this term out of your documents, do so. If not, incorporate this value-limiting term into your evaluation of your equity. Not all equity is created equal. 

For more, see Stock Option Counsel's Gold Standard of Startup Equity - A Guide for Employees. If you would like professional guidance in evaluating your startup equity,  contact Stock Option Counsel - Legal Services for Individuals.

Attorney Mary Russell counsels individual employees and founders to negotiate, maximize and monetize their stock options and other startup stock. She is available through Stock Option Counsel to guide individual employees and founders in negotiating and evaluating startup equity, negotiating post-acquisition employment agreements, making stock option exercise and tax decisions and selling startup stock.

Startup Negotiations: How Preferred Stock Makes Employee Stock Less Valuable

Mary Russell counsels individual employees and founders to negotiate, maximize and monetize their stock options and other startup stock. She is an attorney and the founder of Stock Option Counsel.

If you have a job offer from a startup with an option to purchase shares representing 1% of the company, you may want to consider the Preferred Stock "Liquidation Preference" to see if your 1% would really be 1% if the company is acquired. If the Liquidation Preference is high, you might want to negotiate for more shares to make up for the loss in value you can expect when the company is acquired.

Common Stock v. Preferred Stock

As a startup employee, you'll be getting Common Stock (as options, RSUs or restricted stock). When venture capitalists invest in startups, they receive Preferred Stock. Preferred Stock comes with the right to preferential treatment in merger payouts, voting rights, and dividends. If the company / founders have caved and given venture capitalists a lot of preferred rights - like a 3X Liquidation Preference or Participating Preferred Stock , those rights will dramatically reduce your payouts in an acquisition.

Liquidation Preference & How It Makes Employee Stock Less Valuable

One Preferred Stock right is a "Liquidation Preference." Without a Liquidation Preference, each stockholder – preferred or common – would receive a percentage of the acquisition price equal to the stockholder's percentage ownership in the company. If the company were acquired for $15 million, and an employee owned 1% of the company, the employee would be paid out $150,000.

With a Liquidation Preference, preferred stockholders are guaranteed to be paid a set dollar amount of the acquisition price, even if that guaranteed payout is greater than their percentage ownership in the company.

Here’s an example of the difference. An investor buys 5 million shares of Preferred Stock for $1 per share for a total of $5 million. After the financing, there are 20 million shares of common stock and 5 million shares of Preferred Stock outstanding. The company is then acquired for $15 million.                                                                                                                           

Without a Liquidation Preference, each stockholder (common or preferred) would receive $0.60 per share. That’s $15 million / 25 million shares. A hypothetical employee who held 1% of the company or 250000 shares) would receive $150,000 (that’s 1% of $15 million).

If the preferred stockholders had a 1X Liquidation Preference and Non-Participating Preferred Stock, they would receive 1X their investment ($5 million) before any Common Stock is paid in an acquisition. They would receive the first $5 million of the acquisition price, and the remaining $10 million would be divided among the 20 million shares of common stock outstanding ($10 million / 20 million shares of common stock). Each common stockholder would be paid $0.50 per share, and hypothetical employee who held 1% of the company would receive $125,000.

Ugly, Non-Standard Rights That Diminish Employee Stock Value

The standard Liquidation Preference is 1X. This makes sense, as the investors expect to receive their investment dollars back before employees and founders are rewarded for creating value. But some company founders give preferred stockholders multiple Liquidation Preferences or Participation Rights that cut more dramatically into employee stock payouts in an acquisition.

If preferred stockholders had a 3X Liquidation Preference, they would be paid 3X their original investment before common stock was paid out. In this example, preferred would be paid 3X their $5 million investment for a total of $15 million, and the common stockholders would receive $0. ($15 million acquisition price – $15 million Liquidation Preference = $0 paid to common stockholders)

Preferred stock may also have "Participation Rights," which would change our first example above to give preferred stockholders an even larger portion of the acquisition price.

Without Participation Rights, Preferred Stockholders must choose to either receive their Liquidation Preference or participate in the division of the full acquisition price among the all stockholders. In the first example above, the preferred stockholders held 20% of the company and had a $5 million Liquidation Preference. When the company was acquired for $15 million, the preferred stockholders had the choice to receive their $5 million liquidation preference or to participate in an equal distribution of the proceeds to all stockholders. The equal distribution would have given them $3 million (20% of $15 million acquisition price), so they chose to take their $5 million liquidation preference, and the remaining $10 million was divided among 20 million shares of common stock.

If the Preferred Stock also had Participation Rights, (which is called Participating Preferred Stock), they would receive their Liquidation Preference and participate in the distribution of the remaining proceeds.

In our example with a 1X Liquidation Preference but adding a Participation Right, the Participating Preferred Stock would receive their $5 million Liquidation Preference AND a portion of the remaining $10 million of the acquisition price equal to their % ownership in the company.

$5 million Liquidation Preference + ((5 million shares / 25 million shares outstanding) * $10 million) = $7 million

Common stockholders would receive (20 million shares common stock / 25 million shares outstanding) * $10 million = $8 million.

Our hypothetical employee who held 1% of the company would receive $100,000 (.01 * $10 million) or 0.67% of the acquisition price.

Employee Focus – Calculating Your Payout

If you are an employee of a startup, you can use Liquidation Preference as shorthand for the minimum price the company would have to be acquired for before any employees would be paid out. 

If the acquisition price is less than the Liquidation Preference, common stockholders will get $0 in the acquisition.

If you want to go further and understand what you would be paid out if the acquisition price is more than the Liquidation Preference, consider these three scenarios:

If the preferred stockholders have Participating Preferred Stock, Your Payout = (Acquisition Price – Liquidation Preference) * Your % of All Outstanding Stock

If the preferred stockholders have Non-Participating Preferred Stock, you will receive the lower of:

Your Payout = (Acquisition Price – Liquidation Preference) * Your % of Common Stock OR

Your Payout = Acquisition Price * Your % Ownership

Employee Focus – What to Ask the Company

These calculations are complicated, so if you are evaluating a job offer you might want to stay out of these details leave it up to the company to tell you how the Liquidation Preference would affect you in an acquisition. Use these questions to understand how the Liquidation Preference would reduce the value of your common stock in an acquisition. Simply ask the CFO these questions:

1. What is the total Liquidation Preference? Do the investors have Participation Rights?

2. If the company were purchased today at the most recent VC valuation, what would my shares be worth?

3. If the company were purchased today at 2X the most recent VC valuation, what would my shares be worth? 

3. If the company were purchased today at 10X the most recent VC valuation, what would my shares be worth?

This will give you a good feel for how heavy the VC Liquidation Preferences are and how they would weigh down the growth in value of the common stock.

Founder Focus – Negotiating Your Acquisition Payout

If you are a founder and are negotiating with an acquiror, consider renegotiating your investors’ Liquidation Preference payout. Everything is negotiable in an acquisition, including the division of the acquisition price among founders, investors and employees. Do not get pushed around by your investors here, as their rights in the documents do not have to determine their payout.

If your investors are pushing to receive the full Liquidation Preference and leaving you and/or your employees with a small cut of the payout, address this with your investment bankers. They may be able to help you play your acquiror against the investors so that you are not cut out of the wealth of the deal, as most acquirors want the founders and employees to receive enough of the acquisition price to inspire them to stay with the company after acquisition.

Mary Russell is an attorney and the founder of Stock Option Counsel. You are invited to contact Stock Option Counsel for help in negotiating and evaluating your job offers and post-acquisition employment agreements, making stock option exercise and tax decisions and identifying your rights and opportunities to sell startup stock. 

Thanks to investment banker Michael Barker for his comments on founder merger negotiations. Michael is a Managing Director at Shea & Company, LLC,  a technology-focused investment bank and leading strategic advisor to the software industry.

Joining an Early Stage Startup? Negotiate Your Equity and Salary with Stock Option Counsel Tips

Attorney Mary Russell, Stock Option Counsel, counsels individual employees and founders to negotiate, maximize and monetize their stock options and other startup stock. You are invited to contact Stock Option Counsel for help in negotiating and evaluating your job offers and post-acquisition employment agreements, making stock option exercise and tax decisions and identifying your rights and opportunities to sell startup stock. 

"Hey baby, what's your employee number?" A low employee number at a famous startup is a sign of great riches. But you can't start today and be Employee #1 at Square, Pinterest, or one of the other most valuable startups on Earth. Instead you'll have to join an early-stage startup and negotiate a great equity package. This post walks through the negotiation issues in joining a pre-Series A / seed-funded / very-early-stage startup. 

Q: Isn't it a sure thing? They have funding!

No. Raising small amounts from seed stage investors or friends and family is not the same sign of success and value as a multi-million dollar Series A funding by venture capitalists. According to Josh Lerner, Harvard Business School’s VC expert, 90 percent of new businesses don’t make it from the seed stage to a true VC funding and end up shutting down because of it. So an equity investment in a seed-stage startup is an even riskier game than the very risky game of an equity investment in a VC-funded startup.

Q: How many shares should I get?

Don't think in terms of number of shares or the valuation of shares when you join an early-stage startup. Think of yourself as a late-stage founder and negotiate for a specific percentage ownership in the company. You should base this percentage on your anticipated contribution to the company's growth in value.

Early-stage companies expect to dramatically increase in value between founding and Series A. For example, a common pre-money valuation at a VC financing is $8 million. And no company can become an $8 million company without a great team. So think about your contribution in this way:

Q: How should early-stage startups calculate my percentage ownership?

You'll be negotiating your equity as a percentage of the company's "Fully Diluted Capital." Fully Diluted Capital = the number of shares issued to founders ("Founder Stock") + the number of shares reserved for employees ("Employee Pool") + the number of shares issued or promised to other investors ("Convertible Notes"). There may also be warrants outstanding, which should also be included. Your Number of Shares / Fully Diluted Capital = Your Percentage Ownership.

Be aware that many early-stage startups will ignore Convertible Notes when they give you the Fully Diluted Capital number to calculate your ownership percentage. Convertible Notes are issued to angel or seed investors before a full VC financing. The seed stage investors give the company money a year or so before the VC financing is expected, and the company "converts" the Convertible Notes into preferred stock during the VC financing at a discount from the price per share paid by VCs.

Since the Convertible Notes are a promise to issue stock, you'll want to ask the company to include some estimate for conversion of Convertible Notes in the Fully Diluted Capital to help you more accurately estimate your Percentage Ownership. 

Q: Is 1% the standard equity offer?

1% may make sense for an employee joining after a Series A financing, but do not make the mistake of thinking that an early-stage employee is the same as a post-Series A employee.

First, your ownership percentage will be significantly diluted at the Series A financing. When the Series A VC buys approximately 20% of the company, you will own approximately 20% less of the company.

Second, there is a huge risk that the company will never raise a VC financing.  According to CB Insights, about 39.4% of companies with legitimate seed funding go on to raise follow-on financing. And the number is far lower for seed deals in which legitimate VCs are not participating. 

Don't be fooled by promises that the company is "raising money" or "about to close a financing." Founders are notoriously delusional about these matters. If they haven't closed the deal and put millions of dollars in the bank, the risk is high that the company will run out of money and no longer be able to pay you a salary. Since your risk is higher than a post-Series A employee, your equity percentage should be higher as well.

Q: Is there anything tricky I should look out for in my stock documents?

Yes. Look for repurchase rights for vested shares or termination of stock options for violations of non-compete or bad-leaver clauses. Have your attorney read your documents them as soon as you have access to them. If you don't have access to the documents before you accept your offer, ask the company this question:

Does the company maintain any repurchase rights over my vested shares or any other rights that prevent me from owning what I have vested? 

If the company answers "yes" to this question, you may forfeit your equity when you leave the company or are fired. In other words, you have infinite vesting as you don't really own the shares even after they vest. This can be called "vested share repurchase rights," "clawbacks," "non-competition restrictions on equity," or even "evil" or "vampire capitalism."

Most employees who will be subject to this don't know about it until they are leaving the company (either willingly or after being fired) or waiting to get paid out in a merger that is never going to pay them out. That means they have been working to earn equity that does not have the value they think it does while they could have been working somewhere else for real equity.

Q: What is fair for vesting? For acceleration upon change of control?

The standard vesting is monthly vesting over four years with a one year cliff. This means that you earn 1/4 of the shares after one year and 1/48 of the shares every month thereafter. But vesting should make sense. If your role at the company is not expected to extend for four years, negotiate for an vesting schedule that matches that expectation.

When you negotiate for an equity package in anticipation of a valuable exit, you would hope that you would have the opportunity to earn the full value of the package. However, if you are terminated before the end of your vesting schedule, even after a valuable acquisition, you may not earn the full value of your shares. For example, if your entire grant is worth $1 million dollars at the time of an acquisition, and you have only vested half of your shares, you would only be entitled to half of that value. The remainder would be treated however the company agrees it will be treated in the acquisition negotiation. You may continue to earn that value over the next half of your vesting schedule, but not if you are terminated after the acquisition.

Some employees negotiate for “double trigger acceleration upon change of control.” This protects the right to earn the full block of shares, as the shares would immediately become vested if both of the following are met: (1st trigger) after an acquisition which occurs before the award is fully vested (2nd trigger) the employee is terminated (as defined in the stock option agreement).

Q: The company says they will decide the exercise price of my stock options. Can I negotiate that? 

The company will set the exercise price at the fair market value ("FMV") on the date the board grants the options to you. This price is not negotiable, but to protect your interests you want to be sure that they grant you the options ASAP.

Let the company know that this is important to you and follow up on it after you start. If they delay granting you the options until after a financing or other important event, the FMV and the exercise price will go up. This would reduce the value of your stock options by the increase in value of the company.

Early-stage startups very commonly delay making grants. They shrug this off as due to "bandwidth" or other nonsense. But it is really just carelessness about giving their employees what they have been promised.

The timing and, therefore, price of grants does not matter much if the company is a failure. But if the company has great success within its first years, it is a huge problem for individual employees. I have seen individuals stuck with exercise prices in the hundreds of thousands of dollars when they were promised exercise prices in the hundreds of dollars. 

Q: What salary can I negotiate as an early-stage employee?

When you join an early-stage startup, you may have to accept a below market salary. But a startup is not a non-profit. You should be up to market salary as soon as the company raises real money. And you should be rewarded for any loss of salary (and the risk that you will be earning $0 salary in a few months if the company does not raise money) in a significant equity award when you join the company.

When you join the company, you may want to come to agreement on your market rate and agree that you will receive a raise to that amount at the time of the financing. You can also ask when you join for the company to grant you a bonus at the time of the financing to make up for your work at below-market rates in the early stages. This is a gamble, of course, because only a small percent of seed-stage startups would ever make it to Series A and be able to pay that bonus.

Q: What form of equity should I receive? What are the tax consequences of the form?

[Please do not rely on these as tax advice to your particular situation, as they are based on many, many assumptions about an individual's tax situation and the company's compliance with the law. For example, if the company incorrectly designs the structure or the details of your grants, you can be faced with penalty taxes of up to 70%. Or if there are price fluctuations in the year of sale, your tax treatment may be different. Or if the company makes certain choices at acquisition, your tax treatment may be different. Or ... you get the idea that this is complicated.]

These are the most tax advantaged forms of equity compensation for an early-stage employee in order of best to worst.:

1. [Tie] Restricted Stock. You buy the shares for their fair market value at the date of grant and file an 83(b) election with the IRS within 30 days. Since you own the shares, your capital gains holding period begins immediately. You avoid being taxed when you receive the stock and avoid ordinary income tax rates at sale of stock. But you take the risk that the stock will become worthless or will be worth less than the price you paid to buy it.

1. [Tie] Non-Qualified Stock Options (Immediately Early Exercised). You early exercise the stock options immediately and file an 83(b) election with the IRS within 30 days. There is no spread between the fair market value of the stock and the exercise price of the options, so you avoid any taxes (even AMT) at exercise. You immediately own the shares (subject to vesting), so you avoid ordinary income tax rates at sale of stock and your capital gains holding period begins immediately. But you take the investment risk that the stock will become worthless or will be worth less than the price you paid to exercise it.

3. Incentive Stock Options ("ISOs"): You will not be taxed when the options are granted, and you will not have ordinary income when you exercise your options. However, you may have to pay Alternative Minimum Tax ("AMT") when you exercise your options on the spread between the fair market value ("FMV") on the date of exercise and the exercise price. You will also get capital gains treatment when you sell the stock so long as you sell your stock at least (1) one year after exercise AND (2) two years after the ISOs are granted.

4. Restricted Stock Units ("RSUs"). You are not taxed at grant. You do not have to pay an exercise price. But you pay ordinary income tax and FICA taxes on the value of the shares on the vesting date or at a later date (depending on the company's plan and when the RSUs are "settled"). You probably will not have a choice between RSUs and stock options (ISOs or NQSO) unless you are a very early employee or serious executive and you have the power to drive the company's capital structure. So if you are joining at an early stage and are willing to lay out some cash to buy common stock, ask for Restricted Stock instead.

5. Non-Qualified Stock Option (Not Early Exercised): You owe ordinary income tax and FICA taxes on the date of exercise on the spread between the exercise price and the FMV on the date of exercise. When you sell the stock, you have capital gain or loss on the spread between the FMV on the date of exercise and the sale price.

Q: Who will guide me if I have more questions?

Attorney Mary Russell is available to guide individual employees and founders in negotiating and monetizing startup stock. You are invited to contact Stock Option Counsel for help in negotiating and evaluating your job offers and post-acquisition employment agreements, making stock option exercise and tax decisions and identifying your rights and opportunities to sell startup stock. 

VIDEO Startup Stock Options: Negotiate the Right Startup Stock Option Offer

Stock Option Counsel for individual employees and founders in all matters relating to startup stock options or other employee stock. This video describes stock options in a simple, accessible way. Call us when you want to evaluate, maximize or monetize your stock options or other startup stock. (650) 326-3412. www.stockoptioncounsel.com. info@stockoptioncounsel.com.

VIDEO Startup Stock Options: Exercise Price Basics

Stock Option Counsel for individual employees and founders in all matters relating to startup stock options or other employee stock. This video describes stock options in a simple, accessible way. Call us when you want to evaluate, maximize or monetize your stock options or other startup stock. (650) 326-3412. www.stockoptioncounsel.com. info@stockoptioncounsel.com.

Negotiation Rhythms #2: Best Alternative to Negotiated Agreement

Mary Russell counsels individual employees and founders to negotiate, maximize and monetize their stock options and other startup stock. She is an attorney and the founder of Stock Option Counsel. You are welcome to contact Stock Option Counsel at info@stockoptioncounsel or (650) 326-3412.

We know we want to push beyond our limits to capture as much value as possible in a negotiation. But how do we define those limits? It takes a five-word phrase to bring this concept into focus: Best Alternative to Negotiated Agreement (“BATNA”).

The BATNA for a car buyer might be the same car at a nearby dealership for $20,000. The BATNA for a home seller might be an offer from another party for $1 million. The BATNA for a child trading baseball cards might be to hold onto his favorite cards and enjoy looking at them rather than to trade them away.

Any agreement below (or, for a maximum limit, above) a BATNA would leave the negotiator worse off than in the absence of that particular agreement. Said another way, the negotiator would be better off with some other option – their BATNA – than accepting an agreement on those terms.

To properly identify a BATNA, we must do a lot of calculating, daydreaming, and going out in the world to test alternatives. But this creative process is necessary. When we believe that the only alternative is the one at hand, our negotiation position is dangerously weak. It is also dangerously ineffective because it leads to an arrangement that does not, in fact, make the negotiator better off than without it. And any deal that is not in both parties’ best interests is unstable and likely to collapse after it is made.

Countless factors go into naming and ranking one’s alternatives to arrive at a BATNA, and even then it is impossible to do so clearly as those factors cannot all be outlined in numerical format. A better offer might be less certain of being completed, so it might be more advantageous to make an agreement on less favorable terms today. For example, the other job offer might not be certain even though it appears it would be more advantageous if it were finalized. This is the old saying that a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush, and this can be dangerous for those who optimistically negotiate as if their imaginary alternatives are already in the hand. In the other extreme, this is very limiting for those who are very fearful of uncertainty, as they will accept disadvantageous terms for the simple purpose of having certain terms when a bit of risk in pursuit of a better alternative could have led to greater results.

Timing is important in other ways as well, as a negotiator with more time to come to an agreement will have more chances to find alternatives to the agreement at hand. "Wait and see" becomes a BATNA in itself. The opposite of this would be a party who must have resolution today, which would, of course, limit the alternatives.

Beyond hard limits on time, some people do not enjoy the back and forth process of negotiating. They might prefer to take this deal, and even to accept much less of the middle than is possible to capture, than to continue to seek alternatives or negotiate deals. For these people, the process itself inhibits the growth of BATNAs.

We’ll see in the next post – Negotiation Rhythms #3: Sales & Threats – how brainstorming or eliminating BATNAs changes the ZOPA and improves or weakens our force in negotiation.

Mary Russell counsels individual employees and founders to negotiate, maximize and monetize their stock options and other startup stock. She is an attorney and the founder of Stock Option Counsel. You are welcome to contact Stock Option Counsel at info@stockoptioncounsel or (650) 326-3412.

Negotiation Rhythms

We’ve all heard plenty of advice about negotiating.

The business world directs us to stay rationally focused, rely on exhaustive preparation, think through alternatives, spend less time talking and more time listening and asking questions, and let the other side make the first offer.[1]

The psych world counsels us to listen first, sit down, find common ground, move in, keep cool, be brief, forget neutrality, avoid empty threats, and don’t yield.[2]

These tips don’t have much meaning without knowing the underlying principles of negotiations, and studying tips alone is about as meaningful as learning dance steps without ever hearing the music.

The following three-part series presents the rhythm of negotiations as described in the Harvard Negotiation Project’s Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In.[3] It should be useful for those first learning to hear this rhythm and for those who have been dancing since the bazaars of their youth who may need to go back to basics to learn some tricky new steps.

Mary Russell counsels individual employees and founders to negotiate, maximize and monetize their stock options and other startup stock. She is an attorney and the founder of Stock Option Counsel. You are welcome to contact Stock Option Counsel at info@stockoptioncounsel or (650) 326-3412.

Read on!

#1: Zone of Possible Agreement

#2: Best Alternatives to Negotiated Agreement

#3: Sales & Threats

[1] Take It Or Leave It: The Only Guide to Negotiating You Will Ever Need http://www.inc.com/magazine/20030801/negotiation.html via @Inc

[2] The Art of Negotiation | Psychology Today http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200701/the-art-negotiation

[3] Roger Fisher, William Ury and Bruce Patton, Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In. 

Startup Negotiation: Know the Game

Mary Russell counsels individual employees and founders to negotiate, maximize and monetize their stock options and other startup stock. She is an attorney and the founder of Stock Option Counsel.

Craps is the best game in a casino. The house odds are very low at around 0.6%. When you’re rolling and you’re hot you can make big money for everyone at the table. And when you’re cold it doesn’t take long for your turn to end and the dice to move to someone who might get hot!

The same is true for Silicon Valley. It is arguably the only place where employees can strike it rich. Employees become rollers here, making the enterprise happen and enjoying some of the upside of the business through employee equity.

But the odds in craps can be even worse than double zero roulette if you don’t choose the right bets. There are about 120 to choose from, and the people who win know the game and know the risks they’re taking with each bet.

This is a list of casino-style descriptions of a bet on stock options, RSUs or ESPPs. We’ll give each a more thorough look (and pay attention to the great casino king Uncle Sam’s take) in later posts. To keep it simple, these presume that the vesting time/terms have been met by the player.

Stock Options: Player wins cash if (1) player pays cash exercise price to company before/when leaving the company and before the expiration date of the option; (2) company gives permission for or requires player to sell shares (on secondary market, at IPO, at sale of company, etc.); and (3) player sells shares at a price greater than the exercise price. Player loses the exercise price cash if (2) and (3) are not met.

RSUs (“Restricted Stock Units”): Player wins cash when (1) company settles the RSUs in shares of common stock (aka company gives player common stock) and (2) player sells the shares.

ESPPs (“Employee Stock Purchase Plans”): Player wins cash if (1) player makes cash payroll contribution; (2) company converts player’s cash to shares on purchase date (# of shares = cash/conversion price); (3) player sells shares at a price greater than the conversion price. Player loses cash if player sells shares below the conversion price.

Of course, this post does not include the 1000 disclaimers that would be necessary to cover every possible Stock Option/RSU/ESPP plan or equity compensation bet. But it should be a good place to start for employees trying to know the game.