Changing Jobs/Employers

Changing jobs likely involves a significant amount of strategic planning. Here's why

Changing Employers Frequently Means Lots of Important Decisions to Make Regarding Your Stock Comp

Changing from one tech industry employer to another (or planning on changing) involves a number of key decisions, relating both to your current employer and your future employer. We detail below three key items to consider, as well as provide a more in-depth guide for each.

(1) You Have Many Decisions to Make When You Leave Your Employer

If you have vested but unexercised stock options, you need to decide what you want to do with these holdings. Understanding and considering all of the factors (e.g. does a PTEP exist, do you want to exercise your vested options, how will you pay for the cost to exercise and associated taxes) can be a lot.

For an in-depth guide see: Company Departure

(2) Choosing a New Employer Gives You a Unique Opportunity to “Invest”

Choosing a new company to work for is a multi-faceted decision. But a frequently ignored or under-utilized dynamic is that if your new employer is a Pre-IPO tech company, you have the unique opportunity to gain investment exposure to the company's equity (as an employee with a stock-comp grant) --> which is something that even top-tier VCs may not be able to do!

For an in-depth guide see: Choosing a New Company to Work For

(3) Key Things to Ask and/or Negotiate With Your New Employer

Considering whether to join a company is a unique situation where you tend to have a knowledge gap regarding stock comp (versus current employees). It's also when a significant amount of negotiation frequently takes place. Knowing what questions to ask, and what major (salary, bonus, equity-comp package) and minor items can potentially be negotiated, can help you make a better decision and potentially increase your overall compensation.

For an in-depth guide see: New Employee Questions & Negotiation