Pre-IPO: Going Public

Understanding The Risks In Your Pre-IPO Company Stock Options (Part 2)

Edwin L. Miller, Jr.
Stock options and restricted stock in pre-IPO companies can create substantial wealth, but you need to understand what might happen to your stock grants in venture capital financings, in an acquisition, or in an initial public offering. While Part 1 looks at venture financings and M&A deals, Part 2 analyzes IPOs.

Stomach Volatility In Your Company's Stock Without Losing Your Mind

Joanna Glasner and Bruce Brumberg
Don't be discouraged by stock market volatility and underwater stock options. As the experts note, stock grants are tools for building wealth in the long term.

Techniques To Defer Or Reduce Taxes On The Sale Of Your Company's Shares (Part 1): QSB Stock

Martin Nissenbaum
UPDATED! Finding legal techniques to minimize taxes is almost as popular in the US as stock options. Sophisticated techniques with founders' stock and options can avoid or defer taxation.

When Going Public Can Spawn A Merger

Helen Shaw
CFO.com
You think your company is going public soon, but instead it might be acquired.

Windfalls And Pratfalls In Exercising Options

Kathleen Pender
San Francisco Chronicle
Varying tips from experts on how to profit (or avoid mistakes) with your stock options in an IPO.

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My company will go public soon. Can it grant me options now at an exercise price that is substantially lower than the expected IPO price?

Valuation of stock in pre-IPO companies remains as much an art as a science. However, as the company nears the actual IPO, reliable benchmarks exist...

After the IPO, are there any restrictions on when I can sell shares of my company stock?

Yes. You can expect SEC and contractual restrictions on your freedom to sell your company stock immediately after the public offering...

My company is private. Can I set up a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan now so that I may start selling after the IPO lockup period?

When you set up a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, one of the key requirements is that you must not...

How soon after an IPO can I sell my stock under Rule 144?

For options and stock issued under Rule 701, Rule 144 requires you to...

Do securities laws and regulations place restrictions on stock options or shares granted to consultants and on their freedom to sell the stock?

Yes. A consultant to a private company needs to find out whether the options or shares...

What is a "lockup"?

Lockups are contractual restraints on...

Are there ways around a lockup?

Yes. Sometimes an underwriter will release a portion of the lockup shares for sale before the lockup period expires...

If I exercise my vested options during a lockup period, does the date for calculating the spread occur at exercise or at the end of the lockup, when I can sell the stock?

Lockups prevent you from selling the shares, but you still own them, and the tax-treatment date is not deferred...

I exercised stock options in a pre-IPO company and paid tax on the spread at exercise. The price used for the fair market value (FMV) now seems high, given the expected IPO price. Can I use the IPO price to recover taxes that were paid?

You take this risk in a pre-IPO situation, when valuation...

If I am an "affiliate" of my company, how difficult is it to register my stock for resale to the public?

Except at times when a number of affiliates will simultaneously sell a portion of their stock, a public company is unlikely to register an affiliate's stock for resale...

What are the company-information requirements of Rule 144 that affect my stock sales?

The SEC Rule 144 requirement that current public information about the company be available is met if the company has filed all the required reports under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934...

Why do some companies issue "tracking stock"?

Tracking stock is a separate class or series of common stock of a corporation...

UPDATED! How do I have the legend removed from my restricted securities?

You need to show that resale does not require you or your company to...

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