What Happens When You Leave
The 90-day clock, good leaver vs. bad leaver, layoffs vs. resignation, and acquisition scenarios.
What you’ll learn
- ✓The 90-day post-termination exercise window — your options, literally
- ✓Extended exercise windows and which companies offer them
- ✓Good leaver vs. bad leaver provisions and what triggers each
- ✓Layoffs vs. resignation — how treatment differs
- ✓Acceleration clauses in acquisition scenarios
- ✓How to decide whether to exercise when you leave
Leaving a company — whether you choose to or are forced to — is when startup equity gets real. The theoretical value you've been watching on paper suddenly has a hard deadline and a set of decisions you have to make fast, often with incomplete information and no liquidity to exercise.
The 90-day post-termination exercise window is the default, and it's brutal. You have three months to decide whether to spend (often tens of thousands of dollars) to buy shares in a private company with no clear exit in sight. Most people can't do it. They walk away from unvested shares and forfeit vested options.
In this chapter, you’ll work through the exact framework for what happens when you leave. We cover each of the key topics with worked examples, real numbers, and actionable steps you can take immediately.
- ✓The 90-day post-termination exercise window — your options, literally
- ✓Extended exercise windows and which companies offer them
- ✓Good leaver vs. bad leaver provisions and what triggers each
- ✓Layoffs vs. resignation — how treatment differs
- ✓Acceleration clauses in acquisition scenarios
- ✓How to decide whether to exercise when you leave
Equity Decoder
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