Private-company equity, explained plainly
Most equity writing is either a legal document or a sales pitch. These are neither: short explanations of the mechanics that actually decide what your grant is worth, written to be read once and understood.
ISO, NSO, RSU — what you actually hold
Four letters on your paperwork decide whether you have to buy your equity, when you owe tax on it, and what happens when you leave.
Vesting, cliffs, and what “vested” really means
Vesting is the schedule on which a grant stops being conditional. It is not the same as owning shares, and not the same as being able to do anything with them.
Where your estimated share price comes from
A private company has no public quote. The number on your dashboard is an estimate built from observed secondary-market activity — useful, and uncertain in ways worth understanding.
The exercise window after you leave
When you leave a company holding vested options, a clock starts. It is short, it is easy to miss, and when it runs out the options are gone.
The Liquidity Grade, explained
A Liquidity Grade describes how actively a company's shares trade on the secondary market relative to other private companies. It answers “how real is this price for companies like mine,” not “can I sell.”
Put it against your own numbers
The free calculators apply all of this to a grant you enter — no account needed — and the company directory shows estimated share prices for around 2,000 private companies.
General education, not investment, legal, or tax advice. Grant documents and plan rules vary by company and override anything described here — read yours, and talk to a qualified professional about your own situation.