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 !
Haven’t got an esop buy back. But am in a similar position (svp at soonicorn).
Joining a unicorn makes sense as liquidity chances are higher but you are very unlikely to get rich unless one joins as a cxo (even then unlikely to make 50 cr+, unless the startup goes decacorn).
Being first 10 employees is basically joining at seed stage. Chances of liquidity are sub 2% here. It’s a risk/reward game. But then why not become a founder instead. Same risk, higher reward
I joined at a series a stage - so can’t become FIRE rich but got a good grant (0.5-1%) for a comfortable few years if one gets liquidity. Which is extremely unlikely to happen for next 2-3 years.
Also - it’s way easier with unicorn creds for future roles/being a founder.
I joined the startup in 2021 gold rush - they paid a significant amount of cash along with the esops. In today’s environment, even the cto of a seed startup won’t get more than 50l for the first year.
So my pov now is - only 4 good options for me -
Great perspective
My first start up job, gave me a decent ESOP. We were into financial industry related development. Two years of long hard work, and then one day the company went bankrupt and failed. My esop was not worth the paper in which it was printed. learned two important lesson that day -
@Cobra great to hear your story/pov on this as well
In my case, it wasnt a buyback but the firm has started paying dividends. dividend yield is somewhere around 8%. For context, I bought the shares around 2019.
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.
I have had ESOPS in 2 companies #1 - company got acquired ..I got 45 Lacs IN ESOP ...thats 1.5X of my last annualize...
Here is how my career has gone so far
2018 -> Graduated from tier 1 college. 2018 -> first job -> scale up -> 0 Esops 2019 -> switched to an early-stage startup -> worked my ass off -> Had Esops. 2021 -> Wanted to ride the high salary...
Ever heard about people getting payout for their vested ESOPs when they exit the firm? Does this really happen?
