How much did you make from buybacks

I am at a VC backed early stage startup. Have been offered Esops.l but have no clue on this. Can somebody explain to me how can I make money from ESOP by answering these- 1) Do I have to buy them post vesting period? If yes, what amount do I need to pay? Also will there be text on this purchase itself? 2)) When the company buys back from me assuming my vesting was over and I could hold them on, what's the amount I will get? I am assuming it's (no of options * current share price) - (no of options * strike price issued to me). Is that correct? If yes, how is the current share price calculated for non listed company? 3) Now when the company buys these, what's the tax I have to pay? I am trying to understand if availing options and selling options are different and if both have taxes 4) What happens in IPO? Who buys from me? Where can I sell? What price do I sell at?

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)

Primarily, my question targets startups which went ipo where you may joined when it was a private company and later it went public and you liquidates it. - will your esop units gets multiplied before ipo? - will exercise price gets increased before ipo? - what about the tax? - are there any unknowns and nuances involved which you were not aware of and later realised? I hold esops in a startup and want to understand how this works during an IPO

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.

How much ESOPs can I ask from an early stage startup (incubated). Valuation is around 12 cr. I have agreed to take a 50% paycut on my fixed, but not sure about ESOPs. Please advice.

Fast learning and fast paced growth aside, after 15 years of MNC experience I joined a startup to get some ESOPs.. and hopefully a good buyback .. I have worked in 2 startups now.Both of these were already Unicorns when I joined . While I love the culture and dynamic pace of a startup i feel my chances of getting a payout are slim... My personal learning is to get a good reward you have to be in top 10 employees for sure ... otherwise it's not worth it .. There is no point joining a Unicorn in middle management...or second in command in any function... Happy to hear your thoughts !

I got a offer where i will get the equity. Does people really make money when company get sold considering in my case if i get 1% equity. Also how does it work? Suppose when we start valuation of the company is 1 cr so my part will be 1L. Now in the next round suppose the valuation is 10cr then does it increase my equity to 10L or it dilute my % of equity? Suppose if the company is sold at 100cr, do i really get 1 cr? Kindly let me know how it works and really people make money or not if it get sold.

I am getting offered a 10L Esops for example, does that simply mean i need to pay some amount to get shares worth 10L of company at Actual Market Price? I have got only RSUs until now so now idea how world of esops work and are they actual money? Like If i’m at 40 CTC fixed and getting offer 48 fixed + 8L esops, am i getting 20% increment or 40% increment?

Hi GVers, For those who've seen their company IPO (Zomato, Nykaa, PayTM, Delhivery etc.) during their tenure, by how much did you ESOP value appreciate after the IPO? Also, how long before the IPO had you joined the company? For those who've seen buybacks and secondary sales in their company How much did your ESOP value appreciate during such events, if any? How long ago before the event had you joined the company? PS: I've heard ESOP value for some IPO borne companies appreciate by 2x after the IPO.

I’m considering joining as a founding engineer at an early stage startup who is just about to sign a $4M seed round. They offered to match my current base and a $20,000 in ESOPs. When joining at such early stage companies, how should I think of ESOPs so that I can better negotiate. I’m banking on this idea going big and I want to get as much ESOPs as possible to maximise my returns in the future.