Waiting here ( company I used to work at is almost getting sold )  
 I posted a similar question did not get too many specific company names etc

Software Developer

FreeCharge. Allowed me to think about FIRE atleast.

Founder

Folks who got rich from startup ESOP money   1) which startup was it ? 2) what did it enable you to buy ? 3) how did your life change after it ?

Welcome to Indian Startups's Private Community

Folks who got rich from startup ESOP money- 

1) which startup was it ?
2) what did it enable you to buy ?
3) how did your life change after it ?

Startup moolah

Startup moolah- Grapevine

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 !

Share your ESOP buyback story..

Curious if anyone made a lot of money from their startups getting sold here on grapevine

Has your life changed? What do u do now?

Any people who were a part of a startup that got sold

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.

"ESOPs made me rich af"

I have had ESOPS in 2 companies 
#1 - company got acquired ..I got 45 Lacs IN ESOP ...thats 1.5X of my last annualized salary  ( so additional salary for 18 months) 
#2 - Company became unicorn ... I quit and company bought my ESOPs . Got 2 Cr
That is 3X of my annualized salary

Company 1 - I had joined at very early stage ; Company 2 - I joined at mid-stage

UX/UI Designer

Welcome to Product Managers's Private Community

Hey everyone, excited to be doing this AMA!

A brief about me, I work currently as a Director of Product at an Indian unicorn startup 

About my career: 
- Did my undergrad from IIT and then masters from an Ivy league school
- Have been in product for almost 10 years now - across 2 Indian unicorn startups and a publicly listed company

Would love to take questions on what it means to be a PM, growing within the role, building your career, and other things :) 

Will be back here at 4 pm and start replying
Shoot away!

AMA 🎙️: Hey all, I am pmsprint, Director of Product Management at a Unicorn in India!

Product Manager

It's always something to look forward to in a startup. But wanting to know if it's actually meaningful. Are you making good money from it? Anybody around you who is making good money from it. 

This would really help a lot of us in startups know what to expect 🙏

People at Meesho, can you share experience on ESOP buyback?

I am in discussion with some very early stage startup and if things work out then will be part of the founding team. They have promised to give me same salary as the current company’s salary but give ESOP. Is ESOP worth it if you are founding team member?

The founder has sold his previous company so higher chance of success it looks to me.

Is there any case where person made huge money on ESOP?

Are ESOP worth it? Did it make anyone billionaire?

Engineering Manager

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.

Wealth creation from ESOP

Strategy Consulting

At an early stage startup that is VC funded. Had posted a question on understanding esops which provided great clarity. Now curious as to how much people actually have ended up making from ESOP buybacks. Would be great if you can share- initial exercise price, quantum of esops and final price at which you sold. I currently have 25L in esops for a 2M$ funded company at a strike price of 10.

How much did you make from buybacks

Management Consulting

What is the probability of generating significant wealth (1-5Cr) by working at startups(Both US headquartered and India headquartered) in India? 
Is Generating wealth through ESOPS normal thing in India or very few lucky ones make such money? 
Do you know guys who have made significant money by working at startups? 
If yes, what parameters one should look for while identifying such startups?

Wealth Creation through ESOPS

Product Analyst at faang+ 
CTC - 20.5 lpa full cash

Vs

APM at Series C (climate tech Startup)
CTC - 27.5 lpa ( cash + ESOP)

Which one is better for career progression
Like APM at a startup or a PA in big MNC

Salary comparison

Growth Manager

Hi all,

As the title suggests, I want to know if there are consequences associated with quitting a company in just 3 weeks.

I've joined an early stage startup as one of the first few hires in the product team. The pay and work is reasonably okay. WLB is also good. But one of the companies I was interviewing during my NP from called me back, conducted one more interview and now I have a better offer in hand. This new company is a fintech giant and objectively it makes no sense for me leave this offer. 

I'm stuck in a situation now where I'm getting super anxious to initiate this conversation with my current manager about leaving in just 3 weeks. Can someone help me with this? Please share your experiences if possible. 

Thanks a lot.

Can I leave a company after just 3 weeks of joining?

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.

Unmasking ESOP wealth!

Consultant

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

Startup moolah

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