We know the dilemma from firsthand experience: should you exercise your stock options, or should you let the options expire? Can you afford to tie up substantial amounts of money in an illiquid stock for a long period of time? The high failure rate of startups makes the decision even harder, especially with extra costs such as the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). Now you can get liquidity for your stock options.

The Employee Stock Option Fund provides current and former employees of venture backed companies with the cash needed to exercise their options and cover associated taxes. By partnering with ESO, the employee retains potential upside. If the company goes under and the shares are worthless, ESO bears the risk and not the employee.

In other words, you can have your cake and eat it too. If you represent company management and facing the dilemma of whether to change your entire option program to NSOs or RSUs, letting ESO selectively address individual situations for you is a lot less expensive to the company than letting 100% of the departing employees capture equity without investing a penny.