Rijas Muhammed

Pay ₹22 Lakhs today? OR Walk away from ₹50 Lakhs worth of ESOPs? (which could someday become crores) 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥. 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘖𝘯. That’s a real decision a friend faced last month. After giving 5 years to a startup he decided it was finally time to move on. Then HR dropped the bombshell: “You have 90 days to exercise your ESOPs.” He was prepared for the exercise price. But there was something he wasn’t prepared for and had no clue about: 🤯 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝘅. (𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘈𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯! 𝘐𝘵𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 "𝘗𝘳𝘦-𝘙𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦") In simple terms: When you exercise ESOPs in India, the difference between your exercise price and the fair market value is considered a "salary benefit." And the government taxes that "benefit" immediately. Even though you haven't actually made a single rupee yet. In his case, the immediate liability was massive! Roughly ₹22 Lakhs in total (tax + exercise price). And add to it: ↳ No IPO announced. ↳ No secondary sale in sight. ↳ No buyback planned. Just hope. Belief. Trust. But you can't pay tax bills with belief. Thousands of startup professionals learn this lesson the hard way. We aggressively negotiate ESOPs. We proudly share our "paper valuations." We dream of financial freedom. But rarely do we ask ourselves the one critical question: "Will I have the cash and courage to exercise these ESOPs when the moment arrives?" Your ESOP value on paper isn't your real wealth. Liquidity timelines, tax rules, and cashflow matter. If you're holding ESOPs (or negotiating for them): → Understand the "Perquisite Tax" clearly. → Clarify liquidity options upfront (IPO, buybacks, secondaries). → Know your 90-day window post-resignation. Because when your clock starts ticking, it's not just about money. It's emotional, high-stakes, and deeply personal. 👇 Any guesses on what he chose? Drop in comments.

Hiring VP - Operations | CTC: 1Cr to 1.2Cr ++ Stocks Looking for a leader with a proven track record in Logistics, Supply Chain, and Operations Management. Expertise in leadership, process innovation and multi-stakeholder management. 📍 Location: Delhi NCR Industry: E-commerce, Food, Supply Chain, Startups, FMCG Seeking 15+ years of experience in leading complex logistics/operations, setting up scalable and efficient processes, and managing diverse teams. Strong problem-solving skills and a hunger for impact are a must! Check the first comment for next steps. Saurabh | Lakshmi | Manasvi | HireVeda

You resign. And suddenly, your manager wants to talk. The VP wants to know what it will take to keep you. A counter-offer appears. Higher title, more money, promises of bigger things. Feels good? It shouldn’t. 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂. 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘖𝘯 Here's what's actually happening behind the scenes: They’re buying time until they can find your replacement. 🚫 They’re avoiding disruption in a project, a client relationship, or a business-critical quarter. 🚫 They’re protecting their own KPIs. Because your exit makes them look bad upstream. 🚫 In most cases, the counter-offer is a short-term business tactic, not a long-term commitment to your growth. Yes, you feel validated. Yes, it’s flattering. But if you needed to resign for them to value you, 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗱. Thinking of accepting a counter-offer? Ask yourself this: What’s really changed? And will it still matter six months from now? Ever accepted a counter-offer? What happened next?