The Spirit of Silicon Valley

I fell in love with Silicon Valley and what it represents almost instantly once arriving here. I had experienced large corporation culture and was not happy with it. I cannot say I was disappointed because I did not go in with high expectations. A culture where the number of years served and how connected you are in the company determines your rank and position, regardless of talent or ability. Silicon Valley creates no unnecessary barriers for the growth of individuals’ careers. The other aspect that I love is the drive to deliver something of value to the world. The aura of Silicon Valley is contagious.

One aspect that I appreciated was the idea that when working for a startup you get options of the company you are helping build. This is one of the most important concepts that helps create an environment for innovation and insane amounts of grit and hard work. I was disillusioned when I learned the stark reality of this dream. The reality is that only about 40% of options given get vested by employees, given the low average time spent in a job in Silicon Valley. Once options vest, they have to be exercised within 90 days of someone leaving their company.

This is where the dream falls apart. In most cases employees would have to write checks between $5,000 and $50,000 to exercise those shares and would have tax implications that would usually be even higher, putting the total cost close to 6 figures for most. The reality is that they are paying 6 figures for a lottery ticket. This is a very expensive lottery ticket and not something most can afford; very few keep their options.

I believe that this goes against the very spirit upon which Silicon Valley is built on. Employees that join startups give their blood, sweat and tears. After leaving a startup they have left behind their impact and contributions; they have left the company in a better place than where it was when they joined. They deserve equity they can keep.

I am happy to say that at Ople.ai we will give employees 10 years to exercise their options after they leave. This ensures that an employee’s wealth is not what determines their ability to keep the equity they earned. I have created this ThunderClap to ask other CEO’s to do the same thing and make sure that they give their employees equity they can keep. Long live the spirit of Silicon Valley.

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