Stock Options

Definition

The right to buy company shares at a set price in the future, given to employees as compensation for the salary they're not getting. They're worth millions on paper and nothing in reality, making them the participation trophies of startup compensation.

Example Usage

"My startup offered me stock options instead of a raise, which is like being paid in lottery tickets except the odds are worse and the drawing might never happen."

Related Terms

Advanced

super pro rata

The right to invest more than your proportional share in a subsequent round, allowing early investors to increase their ownership. Pro rata's aggressive older sibling who always wants more.

🚀 Startup / VC

Advanced

pay-to-play provision

A punitive clause forcing existing investors to participate in future rounds or lose their special privileges—the venture capital equivalent of 'put up or shut up.' Popular after market downturns when companies need to separate real believers from fair-weather friends.

🚀 Startup / VC

Advanced

participating preferred

Preferred stock that gets both its money back first AND participates in remaining proceeds with common stockholders. The 'have your cake and eat it too' of liquidation preferences.

🚀 Startup / VC

Advanced

catalytic capital

Patient, flexible funding that accepts below-market returns to achieve social impact alongside financial returns, pioneered by organizations like Omidyar Network. Capitalism with a conscience, or venture capital with lowered expectations, depending on your perspective.

🚀 Startup / VC

Beginner

MVP

Minimum Viable Product: the absolute least you can build before showing it to humans, which somehow always ends up being the final product. It's the software development equivalent of serving someone a raw potato and calling it a restaurant soft launch.

💻 Tech / IT🚀 Startup / VC

Beginner

Seed Round

The first significant round of funding, where investors plant money in your startup like seeds in a garden, fully expecting that most gardens will produce nothing but weeds and regret. It's typically between $500K and $5M, which is a lot of money for a PowerPoint presentation.

🚀 Startup / VC

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