The small hardware company I work at is in the process of being acquired over the next 3 months. Revenue exists but it is low so not sure how big the acquisition will be. I have 15 YOE (mostly semiconductor hardware) and been here for a little over 2 years. I got a few options, nothing huge like that blind TCs. I relocated to work for this company and also switched fields a little bit which was good to exercise the learning muscles. I am now ready to pivot and do something else, the lack of resources at a small company has been frustrating so I anticipate going back to work for the man. Things I wanted to get other people's thoughts on: 1. Is it better to stick around till the process completes even though I fully intend to look for other opportunities later? If everything is completed in 3 months, I don't need to pay additional $$ to exercise my options at this point so staying vs leaving isn't too different from that perspective. 2. It is always uncertain how the culture of a company will change upon acquisition but it will be good to hear what others have experienced. 3. I am not quite high enough or old enough to know that the new company will lay me off upon acquisition - if that were to happen in the first year, they are supposed to vest all my options so that could be a somewhat bigger payout but nothing more than 200k or so. How typical is a layoff for mid career folks when a startup gets acquired? Is it worth sticking around just to see if I get paid to leave?
I went through an acquisition offer on a startup where the employee share holders were effectively given RSU in the new company... It was like a total stock acquisition, but the dollars were escrowed and unlocked over a period of 4 years (!). It was pretty f*cked up to be honest. Just be careful... Read the fine print details.
Even for vested stock?? Did you have a choice?
If you're going to be compensated In shares of new company, best in mind it can take MONTHS before you actually get them. I would suggest hedging and buying puts on new company as insurance. I speak from experience on this π