Ask HN: I exercised my options on leaving a company – now told they're 'void'

Re:Ask HN: I exercised my options on leaving a company – now... by xstartup on Friday March 02, 2018 @01:55AM (#16499659)

After having dealt with lots of employees, he somehow made his company a success and it was ready to be acquired. CFO told him to dilute employees. And he never had a problem finding good employees the next time, so yea you can do it and get away.

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Re:Ask HN: I exercised my options on leaving a company – now... by memmove33 on Friday March 02, 2018 @11:02AM (#16502587)

How is it possible to "dilute employees" from a technical point of view? Most of the times, even early employees, VPs and founders have common stocks, so how can one legally dilute just some employees without screwing the other common holders? Genuinely curious.

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Re:Ask HN: I exercised my options on leaving a company – now... by meric on Friday March 02, 2018 @02:49AM (#16499841)

I’ve had my shares diluted from $2000 to $50 a long time ago, but if it’s “void” after a dilution then I’d like to have the math explained to me...

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Re:Ask HN: I exercised my options on leaving a company – now... by memmove33 on Friday March 02, 2018 @11:07AM (#16502646)

What is the reason why they were diluted in your case? Was it "nefarious" (e.g. targeted specifically at you) or just a consequence of unfortunate circumstances (e.g. heavy downturn, aggressive liquidation preferences, ...)?

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Re:Ask HN: I exercised my options on leaving a company – now... by meric on Friday March 02, 2018 @04:49PM (#16506067)

The company ran out of latest round of funds without increasing its value, and took them best deal it can. In the years since it had diluted around that much, again.

This is a public company, not a tech startup.

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