Tender offer sell-or-hold: check price, cap, and eligibility
A tender offer is a dated, capped, eligibility-limited way to sell; run the three checks before the close date.
Startup Watch
Startups and the equity choices behind them
October 2026
Value Vested ESOPs When an IPO Prices Below the Last Round
Check the employee reservation, OFS size, and fresh-issue use in the prospectus to see what a below-round IPO does to your vested ESOP.
Poker Is Solved. Your Biggest Leak Is One Spot — and 5 Seconds to Fix.
Every poker player has a leak. You know the one — the "small" mistake you make a hundred times a week that you can't see because you're the one making it. A solver doesn't fix leaks the way a coach does. It finds them in seconds, prices them exactly, and proves the fix. Here's the math of one.
Below-Range IPO: Mark Vested Equity at Actual Price, Check Strike and 409A
When an IPO prices below range, mark vested shares at the actual offer and first-day price, then compare your strike and 409A to see the real delta.
Inducement Awards After an Acquisition: Strike and Closing Vesting
Check the strike price, closing-vesting tranche, remaining schedule, and plan exception in an inducement grant to see what you keep after an acquisition.
September 2026
Founder-Funded ESOP: Check Your Grant's Real Value
A founder-funded ESOP can leave your percentage unchanged; the real test is who backs the pool, whether new shares were issued, and what your grant's terms say.
Check if vested UK shares can sell before exit
A PISCES secondary auction can give UK startup employees a way to sell vested shares before an IPO, but only if the company and shares clear the checklist.
Zepto ESOP Pool Expansion: Pre-Money or Priced In?
A bigger ESOP pool can dilute you before the round if it is pre-money; the trust's financing shows who the expansion really targets.
Underwater Option Repricing: Check the Six-Month Clause
A lower strike can be a retention test: before accepting a repricing, confirm the price, the service condition, and any reversion trap.
Tender Offer Checklist: Numbers to Check Before Selling Vested ESOPs
A tender offer is a capped sale at today’s price, so run the checklist before you sign.
License Exits: What a Reverse Acquihire Does to Your Payout
A reverse acquihire can look like an exit but pay you like a license. Use this five-question checklist to see what your options, SAFEs, and vesting actually become.
Startup raised: three-line check for in-the-money options
A higher valuation does not pay you, but it gives you three lines to check before you assume your options have value.
Plan staged share unlocks: SpaceX's $123B example
Treat each unlock as a separate liquidity decision: track shares released, trigger status, tax cost, concentration, and sale size before you sell.
How to Read a Secondary Tender That Doubles the Last Round
A secondary price above the last round is a liquidity signal, not a new official valuation. Check the step-up before you sell.
Founder Departure: Equity, Board, and Voting Checklist
Before you leave, check the documents that decide which shares, board rights, and votes stay with you.
Sell or hold in a startup tender: Anthropic's unfilled offer
An unfilled tender is a price signal. Use the offer price, demand, IPO timing, taxes, and revenue documents to decide sell or wait.
Check Five Numbers Before Selling Startup Shares in a Tender
A pre-IPO tender is a partial exit, so size the sale with last-round price, tender price, cap, IPO timing, and personal concentration and tax.
3-line check: can your startup shares sell in a direct listing
Check the S-1 for new shares, employee sales, and transfer limits before you treat vested equity as liquid.
Pre-Money Valuation Explained: What a New Round Does to Your Equity
Pre-money is the value before new cash, post-money adds the investment, and your dilution comes from the investor's share of post-money.
Read the Cap Table Like a CFO: What Your Grant Owns
Treat a cap table as a list of claims, then check your grant after dilution before you sign.
Startup options are not cash: check vesting, exercise price, expiration
A stock option is a timed right to buy shares at a set price; check vesting, exercise price, expiration, liquidity, and taxes before it expires.
Reverse Split, Explained: Check Your Startup Equity Value
A reverse split changes share count and price, not ownership; here is the value check to see if your equity is still worth the same.
Your option strike is locked to your grant-date 409A
A 409A sets the minimum strike for options granted that day; later refreshes do not rewrite your existing grant.
Advertisement