Question on US based ESOPs in India

Hi, I have an ESOPs related question. Appreciate any inputs. Consider a Series B startup providing an employee with 5000 shares. After 2 years, 2000 shares are vested and exercised by the employee. The stocks were never liquidated because the company didn't conduct buyback nor went IPO. Now, assume the company lays off that employee after 2 years, - Can he still hold the vested and exercised 2000 shares? - If yes, then can he sell those stocks during future buyback even if he isn't an employee? - Will the company provide accelerated vesting for the remaining 3000 shares during layoff? (not mentioned on offer letter)

Where did you work and how much money did you make? Asking as it looks like a lot of promise of ESOPs and wealth creation has failed employees in this bloodbath slow growth, layoffs, and job changes.

Truths about ESOP 101 After working in multiple fast growth startup’s and having been part of multiple buybacks as well as being in the startup ecosystem for a decade I want to put to bear my pov about creating wealth through ESOP. Like any other randomised event, ESOP also follows Pareto principle which means a very small number of people within the company ever make sizable wealth that they elevate to the top 0.1% of the country. The Pareto also applies with companies; significantly small minority of companies in India have employee friendly policies which enables an employee to create wealth. Most startup’s have dark patterns within their esop policy which either locks you in for insufferable durations or forces you to pay exorbitant taxes to gain the right to exercise your esops when you are leaving the company. Survivorship bias plays a huge role in enabling the narrative that esop is a great wealth generating tool leading to rude awakening for an employee after they join a company. This doesn’t mean you can’t make wealth, it just means don’t get carried away by narratives and take preventable errors in your career. Always talk to multiple people in startup’s and ask relevant questions to understand esop policies better. Like everything else optimising only for esop for wealth creation will mostly not result in it.

Please share the knowledge you've about these two!

Hi Guys, what is the “Exercise event” for the ESOPs allotted by Indian startup’s? Note: Exercise event means when the vested ESOPs can be allotted. I have come across a couple startup’s which have a very sketchy Exercise event I.e 4 years after vesting of “all the allotted ESOPs” So I’m trying to figure out how other startup’s are doing it in BLR/Metro cities in India.

I’ve not exercised my ESOPs from my previous employer. I am waiting for the company to go public. I quit the company in 2021. What will my tax be if I exercise and sell my stocks at the time of IPO? How much tax can I save if I buy a property?

Hi folks, I'm Kashish, the CEO of EquityList and Founder of Cloud Capital which I run as a solo GP. A little bit about what we do: EquityList is a full-stack equity management platform by AngelList India. Companies across India, US and Singapore use EquityList to manage their cap table, stock options (ESOP/SAR), shareholders, and related compliances. Managing equity for 10k+ stakeholders, 250+ companies and ~$1B in stock options. Cloud Capital has deployed $8M+ in 55+ startups such as Airmeet, Rupifi, Orange Health, DevRev, ZET (OneCode) and others. I've also angel invested in startups such as OSlash, Atlys, Chronicle, Even Healthcare and others. Excited to do this AMA, and look forward to answering any of your questions about ESOPs, cap table management, investing, entrepreneurship, and more! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kashisharma

So i got the ESOPs in my current company and now they want me to exercise it as it is mandatory to exercise the ESOP in a certain period of time. What will happen once I exercise it?? Also i am thinking of quitting the company so what will happen to the exercised ESOP if I leave the company?? Please give any resources to understand the complete what, how and when of the ESOPs and general summary regarding it