Uber IPO - Lessons for Negotiating Startup Equity Offers - Spring 2019 Newsletter - Stock Option Counsel, P.C. - Legal Services for Individuals
Attorney Mary Russell counsels individuals on startup equity, including:
You are welcome to contact her at (650) 326-3412 or at info@stockoptioncounsel.com.
Hello Startup Community!
Uber's IPO is a great lesson for startup employees on negotiating their startup equity. Unicorn startup recruiters have been telling hires for the past few years to value the offered RSUs at many multiples, even 10X, of the most recent investor valuation in negotiating their compensation offers. Since Uber's value has not risen even 2X in that time, any hires who accepted offers based on this calculus have lost significant value compared to their opportunity cost.
Individuals need negotiate for enough shares in a startup to balance their risk. The calculation for the right number of RSUs at a late-stage startup with a public-company-size valuation is the current investor value per share, not the potentialfuture value.
Shira Ovide explored this issue in Bloomberg Opinion last week with input from Stock Option Counsel:
Uber's example shows that employees at startups – particularly those who come aboard when the company is more mature – often don't get rich, even when the companies are successful. Many workers are at the bottom rung of stock holders and tend to have less information about their company's value and prospects than just about anyone else who holds shares. ... Mary Russell of Stock Option Counsel, which advises employees on compensation at startups, said people evaluating job offers at more mature startups should analyze only what the proposed equity is worth at the time of negotiation, not what it could possibly be worth in a dreamy future. That’s not always easy, because Russell said startup recruiters sometimes suggest that a 10-fold increase in valuation in the past is an indication of what prospective employees can expect from their wealth.
For more on using current value to evaluate startup equity offers, see this video from the Stock Option Counsel blog.
Stock Option Counsel, P.C. - Legal Services for Individuals. Thank you for your enthusiasm for my practice and for the Stock Option Counsel Blog! I will continue to send quarterly updates on important topics in the market for startup equity for individual founders, executives and employees. Please keep in touch.
Best,
Mary
Mary Russell | Attorney and Founder
Stock Option Counsel, P.C. | Legal Services for Individuals
Attorney Mary Russell counsels individuals on startup equity, including:
You are welcome to contact her at (650) 326-3412 or at info@stockoptioncounsel.com.