If you join a startup and they give you stock options not RSU. If they vest after say 3 years, can you leave the company and not loose the stock options? If that is the case, why could not Uber early employees leave after 4 years there? I am also getting an offer from a startup, can I leave after the 3 years vesting period?
You can exercise your options but you need to put down your own money and then need to pay taxes on the gains. And you may never get that money back.
You have a vesting schedule. If you leave you will have a period to buy before they expire....Uber early employees didn't leave because: 1) They probably got stock refreshers and new grants with different vesting 3/4 years schedules. 2) Not everyone has cash in hand to go and exercise their options. Remember that if you leave you have to buy or the options will expire and you lose them. Early employees probably got very cheap prices but it's still money that not everyone has laying around. 3) Uber trajectory and money raising events were pretty crazy for 3 years. The valuation grew exponentially and although that was good for those employees it also meant that any exercise would have had a nasty impact on their Alternative Minimum Tax.
Buy back
How many of you have received stock options and what was strike price and stock price at that time?
In my previous company I vested half of my options before leaving. I joined in a late stage (like Series D or E, don't remember). The grant price was like 2.50 USD per share...I had co-workers who joined like a year and half before me and they had prices of like 40 cents per share or some bullshit. Some months before leaving I got a promotion and a new grant for some insultingly low amount of shares (lol) and the new grant price was 3 something. I also remember that my first grant was higher but there was an adjustment after a board meeting that brought it down a bit. I keep asking my ex coworkers if there are any signs of going public but nothing yet so so far I only have fake money.
You can leave anytime you want. Your options (even vested options) usually are forfeit after 90 days after quitting (the number varies by company). If you want stock in the company, exercise the options within this time period...
How can I exercise if it's not public? Where do I read about this. Who will buy my options?
Exercise means you buy stock. Google it.