Category: Pre-IPO and Going Public

Airbnb Is Going Public. What a Good Time to Give Away Your Money.

Flow FP's Block Woman launches in AirBnB's Apollo 11 rocket.

If you’re staring at a windfall from Airbnb’s upcoming IPO, let’s take a moment to think about giving some of it away.

Airbnb Is Going Public. Time to Create a (Flexible) Strategy.

Soooo…Airbnb’s going public. Can I get a woo woooo?!

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My (private) company is doing a tender offer. Should I participate?

Flow FP's block woman brings a stack of shares to the powers that be.

When you work at a private company, you might dream about your company going IPO one day, and all your company stock turning into riches. If you’re reading this post, I imagine you are now contending with one of the other ways to turn private-company stock into grocery money: a tender offer.

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Is Airbnb EVER Going Public?

Flow FP's Block Woman, overwhelmed by paper, feels a sense of Urgency. Of sorts.

Have you been waiting a Very Long Time for Airbnb to go public? Did you get all excited back in September of last year when Airbnb announced that it would go public in 2020? Are you beginning to wonder if it will ever happen? All that lovely stock, all those beautiful RSUs, all those tempting stock options…when will they turn into MONEY?!

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My Airbnb Options Are Expiring Soon. What Should I Do with Them?

Flow FP's block woman, up to her neck in paperwork, worries as things burn up.

If you started at Airbnb several years ago, you might be coming up hard and fast on an unpleasant deadline: The expiration of your options.

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You have lots of private-company stock. Should you sell it on a private secondary market?

Flow FP's block woman balances precariously on a large pile of stock.

You’ve got gobs of stock or options in Airbnb. Or Palantir. Or some other valuable but private company. The money is So Close. You can almost feel it. And yet, you can’t. ‘Cause your company is private. Oh, the torture.

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Should You Exercise Your Options (in a private company)…to Give Your Career More Flexibility?

Flow FP's block woman exercises her stock options -- at the gym!

Should I exercise my options? When should I exercise my options?

If you work in a private company, I’m betting these questions go through your head with annoying frequency. And they’re hard questions to answer! Will the company succeed? Will the stock be worth anything? A lot? It’s all crystal-ball territory and therefore there are very few obvious or knowable answers.

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Are You Waiting for the Uber Lockup to Expire? The Logistical Details You Need to Implement Your Strategy.

Flow FP's Block Woman is hit by some paperwork challenges.

If you read my last blog post about the upcoming expiration of the Uber IPO lockup, you might have noticed that I barely mentioned tax and legal details.

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Are You Waiting for the Uber Lockup to Expire? Here’s How You Can Prepare.

Flow FP's block woman careens toward November 6 in her Uber

I know many things about the upcoming expiration of the Uber lockup:

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If You Have RSUs and Your Company Just Went Public, You Miiiight Want to Check Your Tax Situation.

A curious thing is happening when big tech companies, like Lyft and Uber, go IPO nowadays. I mean, aside from the fact that their stock immediately starts losing value…although that figures into my point, which is:

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Uber’s Going IPO! What Do I Do?! Will I Be Rich? Ahhhh!

Perhaps by now you’ve settled down after reading the news of the Uber IPO filing a few days ago. My clients who used to work at Uber are, of course, Pretty Darn Excited about the announcement that Uber has filed for IPO, likely in Q1 of 2019.Continue reading

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Should You Ask for RSUs or Stock Options?

Flow FP's Block Woman contemplates two piles of stock, one larger but more ephemeral than the other.

When you get a job offer, or a raise, or a bonus, you’re probably simply told that you’ll be receiving more restricted stock units or more stock options as part of that compensation package. But on occasion folks are given the choice: Do you want RSUs or stock options?

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