Receiving stock options can be a life-changing financial opportunity. But, startup employees often struggle to afford the exercise cost. With Equitybee, you can get funding to exercise your options, plus an upfront payment. You remain the owner of the shares so you can enjoy potential future profit as well.

Equitybee

Startup employees are considered a traditionally disadvantaged group of workers and they have had their fair share of problems working in startups, one of the biggest being their potential financial growth within the organization. , the leading startup employees’ stock options funding platform, has developed an innovative solution to the unrelenting problem of not knowing the value of startup employees’ stock options. It’s called and it has one goal in mind: to help startup employees understand the valuation of their stock options to support them in making informed decisions about their financial future. Equitybee Equity Value Finder : Vested Interest Disclosure The author is an independent contributor publishing via our . Be it through direct compensation, media partnerships, or networking, the author has a vested interest in the company/ies mentioned in this story. HackerNoon has reviewed the report for quality, but the claims herein belong to the author. #DYOR brand-as-author program One of the advancements in the way startup companies have ensured the future financial success of their employees while maintaining their commitment in the present is by providing stock options. Stock options are a type of compensation typically given to startup employees, providing them the option to purchase company stock at a predetermined price. This allows employees to share in the company’s growth and success, potentially resulting in significant personal financial gain. Despite having an honorable and ideal way to support employees, many startup employees are not provided with clear information about the value of their stock options or the potential risks involved. The value of these options can also be difficult to determine mainly because of its complicated process and difficulty making sense of the factors involved. With smaller or more limited startups, there are often limited choices for selling their stock options and converting them into cash because of the lack of liquidity. More than this, because there is a high probability of startup companies not succeeding, there can be some level of uncertainty about the future of the company in which startup employees work. They may be unsure about the long-term viability of their company which affects the value of their stock options. Startup Employees at a Disadvantage Despite the questions faced by startup employees with their stock options, they are nonetheless expected to be highly motivated and committed to the success of their company. Stock options are a way for startups to align their interests with those of their employees and to incentivize them to work harder. Additionally, because a startup culture typically has limited resources, employees are expected to take on multiple roles and responsibilities, work long hours, and be flexible in adapting to changes in the fast-paced and dynamic startup environment. This creates a stark difference when compared to employees at big tech companies. In terms of stock options, big tech employees have access to a clear understanding of their stock grants; whereas startup employees often face uncertainty and a lack of transparency. This can make it challenging for startup employees to understand the full value of their compensation packages. Equity Value Finder Serves Startup Employees All these concerns had been seen by Equitybee co-founders Oren Barzilai, Oded Golan, and Mody Radashkovich. This is why they developed the Equity Value Finder to address the exact question, “How do startup employees know the valuation of their stock options?” The tool allows startup employees to sign in and input the details of their company and the total amount of stock options they have. And using Equitybee’s proprietary model that uses multiple streams of information from trade data, valuations, and market sentiment, Equity Value Finder will provide startup employees with the estimated market value of their stock options. Along with the market value estimate, they will also see funding opportunities available to them through the platform. This tool, in the end, provides transparency and knowledge to make informed decisions about their stock options. Essentially, it will allow employees to understand their total compensation package, whether they would like to negotiate better pay and benefits, and facilitate decision-making on whether to exercise their stock options, hold onto them, or sell them. Startup employees don’t have to let the value of their stock option be a mystery any longer. It will ultimately empower startup employees to take control of their financial future and plan for uncertain times.

Empowering Startup Employees: Equitybee Launches Equity Value Finder to Help Navigate Stock Options

Empoderando a los empleados de empresas emergentes: Equitybee lanza Equity Value Finder para ayudar a navegar las opciones de acciones

Autonomiser les employés des startups : Equitybee lance l'Equity Value Finder pour faciliter la navigation dans les options d'achat d'actions

स्टार्टअप कर्मचारियों को सशक्त बनाना: स्टॉक विकल्पों को नेविगेट करने में मदद करने के लिए इक्विटीबी ने इक्विटी वैल्यू फाइंडर लॉन्च किया

新興企業の従業員に力を与える: Equitybee は、株式オプションのナビゲートを支援する Equity Value Finder を開始します

Capacitando funcionários de startups: Equitybee lança o localizador de valor de ações para ajudar a navegar pelas opções de ações

Trao quyền cho nhân viên khởi nghiệp: Equitybee ra mắt Công cụ tìm giá trị vốn chủ sở hữu để giúp điều hướng các lựa chọn cổ phiếu

为初创公司员工赋能：Equitybee 推出 Equity Value Finder 以帮助导航股票期权

Four million employees quit their jobs in April, reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It's the highest employment exodus since the agency started collecting that information in 2000. The number of job postings hit a record high, leaving 695,000 more open jobs than unemployed workers. In a recent , Anthony Klotz, a professor of management at Texas A&M’s Mays Business School, writes, "After a year of unprecedented stress, workers are also burned out and reexamining how to live their lives. People have had epiphanies over the past year.” Klotz, who has researched the psychology of quitting for much of his career, adds, “We all want to pursue life, liberty, and happiness, and many of us have realized our job isn’t the best way to get there.” LA Times article Some of this may be attributed to burnout, post-COVID stress, and a work/life balance impacted by the necessity for nearly all activities to operate out of the home. Due to this phenomenon, summer 2021 has been dubbed The Summer Of Quitting. What's surprising is that a large number of those participating in this professional exodus are not, according to the data, immediately looking for their next job. Instead, they are taking a sabbatical. Throughout a tumultuous 2020, the workforce was concerned about massive layoffs. This year, the narrative has shifted; longtime tech employees are departing. But in both cases, the steady monthly income from a startup job will be lacking. How are many of the employees quitting going to be able to afford their sabbatical? Most employees look towards an IPO, SPAC, or M&A as an opportunity to make a lot of money off the company they helped build. But actually, companies gain the highest amount of value when they are still private. If a startup employee joined at the right time and got a nice options package, there is no need to wait for the IPO in order to exercise your options. The average cost of exercising employee stock options is $140k. And there is no need to invest $140k out-of-pocket. Funding platforms like will supply all the funding and assume all the risk. The way to sipping a pina colada on a beach somewhere can be closer than ever. EquityBee I believe that the most important decision an employee can make when leaving a high-growth company is whether to take part in the success of the company they helped build. Each startup employee got an additional “bank account” when they joined: the employee stock options “bank account”. When they leave, that bank account can either be exercised or within 90 days be returned to the startup pool and result in a big fat zero for the employee. If a startup employee leaves their job for a much-needed sabbatical, they should be able to exercise their employee stock options. Upon a liquidity event, that imaginary bank account can convert into a sum of money that can be life-changing. One of the options for startup employees leaving their jobs is exercising their stock options via funding platforms like EquityBee. Here’s how it works: employees (or ex-employees) are matched with accredited investors to fund their employee stock options; all of the risks is on the investors’ side and the employee doesn’t need to spend a dime. Once the company they leave experiences a liquidity event like an IPO or SPAC, they will receive their exercised options, a sum that might help make their sabbatical more comfortable--perhaps even permanent. The prospect of an endless summer is now that much more feasible.

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For CEOs, letting go of employees is always one of the most difficult parts of the job. It is all the harder when layoffs are the result of external circumstances over which companies have no control, like the current global health crisis. As a result of the shrinking economy, many companies have had to make very difficult staffing reduction decisions. The transparency and compassion with which they make these decisions and communicate them to their workforces says a lot about the spirit and heart of these companies. So, too, does their treatment of departing employees, especially regarding the benefit that most closely links staff with their (former) companies: equity. Equity transforms employees into shareholders, alumni into owners. And, in the case of a major exit, equity can create enormous wealth for hardworking staff who helped build a company from the bottom up, even if they had to leave prematurely. AirBnB and Carta Step Up Two companies in particular have made recent announcements that demonstrate generous equity policies that strengthen staff relationships and the companies themselves: AirBnB and Carta. AirBnB is laying of 1,900 employees, or about 25% of its staff. In addition to other thoughtful departure benefits, AirBnB has removed its one-year cliff on equity, so all employees, regardless of tenure, have .  Equity Management Solutions company Carta laid off 161 employees, which is about 16% of its staff. Carta has , and extended its post termination expiration period (how long employees have to exercise their options after leaving the company)  to one year from dismissal. the opportunity to exercise their options likewise removed its one-year cliff The language both CEOs used in their announcements is telling. AirBnB CEO Brian Chesky said, “Everyone departing, regardless of how long they have been here, is a shareholder.” Carta CEO Henry Ward said, “You joined Carta to create owners and to become one. Everyone affected today will be an owner of Carta.” While both CEOs emphasized how much they value their staff and hate to see any of them go, it’s their equity policies that put this sentiment into action. Both are unequivocally giving their employees the chance to take ownership over their work and to reap the benefits even after they move on from the company. This demonstrates smart, savvy, honest leadership that addresses practical and emotional needs of employees in hard times, and expresses optimism in the future of their companies as well. These moves say: This company will recover and flourish again, your piece is worth something and will be worth even more in the future. Moovit employees made bank - or missed out If employees are looking for great stock options success stories, they should look at the recent for $900M. EquityBee helped some of Moovit employees to exercise their stock options. As a reference, some of these not very senior employees saw gains of up to 10x their exercising price, while the investors who supported them did over 150% on their investment And those who didn’t exercise their options unfortunately saw nothing. Exercising equity options at the right company can become a life changing event. Intel acquisition of Moovit CEOs should take a close look at equity policies as part of their severance and layoff packages. Layoffs will always be hard, but equity is a way to give back in a long-term, serious way to employees who helped build great companies, and an even better way to keep close those staff who companies would truly rather not lose. Employees, for whom the layoffs are all the more personal, real, and pressingly critical, should do everything they can to take advantage of the silver lining that is advantageous equity opportunities. Being laid off stings and is scary, but if staff believe in the company they are departing, they have the chance to invest and own a piece of it in an intrinsic, invaluable way.

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Welcome to the first in a series of Q&As I’m publishing with inspirational mentors and community builders in the technology industry! It’s an honor to have had the opportunity to hear from these inspirational leaders who dedicate their time and positive energy to shaping a better future for developers. At Twilio, I’m inspired every day by the camaraderie of our Developer Network team and their passion for helping others to learn and put our tools to good use. From hackathons to docs to fun tutorials, it’s all in the name of helping builders to unlock their creative potential through code. To me, there’s nothing more important than a great mentor - especially as we continue to navigate the turbulent times that 2020 so brutally ushered in. I am so grateful for the role models and career coaches I’ve had in my corner along the way. I’m also thankful for the industry meetups, local volunteering placements, and Slack communities that are in my orbit - both because they are inclusive learning spaces but also because they create opportunities to give back. In the developer community, mentorship can play a major role in fostering community. In fact, according to GitHub’s , mentorship doubles the likelihood of a strong, sustainable culture. Contrary to what some stereotypes might suggest, being a developer is not a solo mission. Knowledge sharing and mutual support both spurs innovation and makes us all better at what we do. research That’s why we created Twilio's – to celebrate the most inspirational, motivating mentors who are uplifting developers in 2022 through community, mentorship, or code. Handpicked by an esteemed , these honorees are recognized for playing a pivotal role in shaping developer careers in a variety of ways, from virtual community building to school initiatives such as student-run coding contests and educational webinars. Developer Searchlight panel of expert judges Let’s get to know one of our standout honorees, Marcus Eagan! Marcus is a Staff Product Manager at MongoDB and represents one of the six honorees being recognized by Twilio, Stack Overflow, and Hustle Crew for his work championing developers around the globe. He always finds time to uplift others and provide insight into what it takes to pursue a career as a developer. An active and vocal contributor to the developer community, Marcus has made connections with developers from all over the world through blog content and speaking engagements – all while still finding time to code himself. Who are you, where are you based, and what are you working on right now? I’m a longtime open source hacker and problem solver from Detroit’s Westside. I’m based in Palo Alto, California. Right now, I’m laser-focused on three efforts: Enabling application builders everywhere to move faster and with more confidence to address the problems plaguing our world Ensuring that the technological balance of power does not shift back to closed-source tools and protocols that hinder innovation - especially outside of the western world - due to information asymmetry, security concerns, and prohibitive and predatory pricing Upskilling and supporting developers from all over the world looking to level up through open source community participation and usage Congratulations on being selected as a Twilio Developer Searchlight honoree. What does being a mentor or community builder mean to you? First of all, it’s an honor — I’m hype. Twilio has been such an inspiration and an important tool for me since the beginning of my career (I was an early user of Authy!). A co-founder of 500 Startups told me the best pitch he ever saw from a startup was a demo from Jeff Lawson of Twilio at the beginning of the meeting. It really shifted my thinking from tell to show, which is a big part of why I love open source so much and how I go about doing things. Also, by Jeff Lawson was super influential in my thinking. So yeah, definitely an honor and super humbling over anything else. “Ask Your Developer” Secondly, it’s more motivation. When I walk through some parts of San Francisco heading to my office, I see a different level of strife than I am accustomed to in my own life. It’s a small reminder that there are so many people in the world that have an array of unsolved problems. I don’t think technology can solve all of them today, but we can iterate on more solutions more quickly. Thirdly, it’s a reminder that this honor is really one of my parents and grandparents who “held it down.” My grandmother Joann, born to a sharecropper, was supporting my wild adventures in open source programming languages, OpenWRT, MongoDB, and Elasticsearch back when I had absolutely no money but could try things out and seek to solve problems. There’s something magical about it. You are passionate about uplifting developers from diverse backgrounds - tell me more about how you’re reaching people around the world and how you hope to inspire them? Two ways: I’ve been actively investing in startup companies based in Africa, Asia, and lesser-capitalized European cities because I view them as fundamentally closer to the problems of most people than Silicon Valley. I’ve been mentoring and consulting engineers around the world in places like Lagos, Dhaka, Kenya, and Latin America to help them get involved with or extend open source projects. The hope is that they grow their skills and get hired or start companies. It’s already happened in the case of one engineer from Bangladesh who has a really cool job now. I meet engineers in forums, GitHub, conferences, and sometimes LinkedIn. Occasionally engineers just reach out to me. In some cases, they’re much more talented so I try to point them in the right direction of high-value problems to tackle. In all cases, they are more motivated to jump right in and start building. I am hoping to inspire people to find the flame in themselves. Ultimately, I’m hoping to inspire builders of a more equitable world. I look a lot for socio-economic diversity as well for that reason. What’s your one best piece of advice for aspiring or early-in-career developers? I don’t like to give advice and am happy to just share my experience, so you decide but: Run your own race. There will be many faces and places that are all great in different ways, but you should define ‘great’ for yourself to endure the challenges to come. Just for fun: what was your first computer or your most memorable piece of tech? The first computer I personally owned was a TI-83, but the most memorable piece of technology was Encyclopedia Britannica on Floppy Disk. I love encyclopedias and never forgot that experience. Thank you, , for taking the time to share your story. Stay tuned to learn more about the honorees in our series of interviews. You can also read more about the honorees in this , which unpacks how they’re shaping a better future for developers. Marcus Insider article

A Q&A with MongoDB's Marcus Eagan on Developer Mentorship & Building a More Equitable World

GameFi has the potential to change the world in ways that are hard to imagine. But not all GameFi is created equal. In fact, some games come with built-in problems that make them less fun and even exploitative instead of profitable for everyone involved—especially gamers who want to get paid and enjoy playing their favorite games. Play-to-Earn (P2E) games employ a business model that incentivizes gamers to play games with cryptocurrency rewards. This can be enormously beneficial for gamers and crypto alike, but the P2E model needs to evolve if it wants to become sustainable and avoid being exploitative. Why Current P2E NFT Games are Flawed P2E games are expensive, meaning there’s a high barrier to entry for new prospective gamers. To play, gamers have to invest something—usually NFTs of some sort—which can amount to on a game like Axie Infinity. Now imagine the implications of that, considering the majority of Axie gamers are low-wage earners in the Philippines. upwards of $100 Axie Infinity tried to solve the barrier to entry with the scholarship model, which lets players, or scholars, who wish to play the game but do not possess adequate financial resources. Initially, the Axie scholarship system worked in bringing down the barrier to entry and allowed early investors to lend out their NFTs to players unable to afford the cost. In return, investors (now dubbed as “guild”), share in the profits of people playing the game for them. But the Axie scholarship system made it extremely profitable for investors who initially could afford the high costs to take advantage of those less fortunate. This system also came with some undesirable , which would take cuts of the player’s profits, sometimes up to two-thirds of their total earnings. It’s obvious that the current model feels very much like a pyramid scheme, and if you look closely, the model fails to be sustainable in the long run. You’ll need a constant influx of new players - scholars to keep the top earners happy. terms and conditions How P2E games can change P2E can be enormously beneficial for gamers and crypto alike, but it needs to be open to evolving, mainly by making a switch from a play-to-earn model to a play-and-earn model (P&E). The focus should be on creating a game not for the sole purpose of earning, but for enjoying the game itself that truly stands by itself without any earn mechanics. We play games because they’re fun, challenging, and rewarding. In a P&E model, instead of playing a game solely for the purpose of earning rewards, it’s a secondary effect after having fun by yourself or with friends, family, or teammates through online multiplayer experiences, and innovative game mechanics. Earning mechanics are a given in web3. As soon as tokens were added to a game, the idea took off, and P2E games were immediately successful. However, there are so many other avenues in blockchain yet to be explored and created. Blockchain does not always need to equate to just earning. To change the current state of GameFi, Web3 games can explore different blockchain mechanics to improve the player experience. Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin proposed the idea of  "Soulbound" NFTs that can details of your social identity, or NFTs that offer . It’s developments like these that have the potential for real change. While none of these include earning mechanics, they do push the true innovations of decentralization from creating a game player’s identity to creating value in different ways for the player. record interoperability The rise of Esports in the last decade has created a cultural phenomenon with the rise of monetization with top titles like League of Legends, HearthStone, and CounterStrike: Go. However, Esports within the blockchain gaming space has largely been unexplored. Another way to create equity is to run in-game tournaments with paid participation. The entry fees would make up the prize pool, and be redistributed to the winners, with developers taking an administrative cut. On top of that, every participant could get guaranteed rewards, such as unique in-game cosmetics. This monetization model rewards players for skill and does not need any upfront investments encouraging everyone to participate thanks to the guaranteed prizes. The GameFi industry needs to make sure that the future of blockchain games is inclusive, fun, and profitable for all involved. P&E games have a lot to offer in terms of creating new kinds of gaming experiences if they are more equitable, easily accessible, and actually fun. Lead Image

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