I Made a Very Risky Investment |
3 Comments |
I had talked about my dissatisfaction at my old job, which eventually lead me to relocate to California. My old company was a start-up and like most start-ups, early employees get stock options. Unlike public stock that most people are familiar with, my options were in a private company. This means that I can’t simply just sell them like I would a Microsoft or Intel. It’s hard for me to even know their value - it really depends on what the next venture capitalist investing is willing to pay.
In leaving the company, I had a choice. I could walk away from those stock options or I can buy into an investment that I essentially know nothing about. In the end, I decided to buy the stock. I had invested too much at the company to watch someone else get rich. If I’m throwing away the money, well, I’ve wasted more money in other ways. If nothing else I’m optimistic, you’ll notice that I’ve already categorized this as a “Smart Purchase.”
This post deals with: ... and focuses on:Smart Purchases
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PropellerNext: Welcome Energi Gal
December 6th, 2006 at 9:16 pm
I always buy options. Once it worked out: the company layed me off in a downsizing, although I bought my options for about $3500. It managed to limp along for awhile, and changed its business and got bought. I walked away with about $50K.
December 6th, 2006 at 9:55 pm
That makes me feel a lot better about it. I don’t expect the company to disappear, it’s fairly successful. However, I would be extremely happy if my $1000+ turned into $15,000. If that happens, I still would have done better with a traditional job rather than the start up.
January 22nd, 2008 at 11:55 am
[…] For the second time in twelve months, I made a very risky investment buying stock options. (You can read about my first risky investment here.) I have invested over $5,000 this time. I bought the stock options that had vested. Using the last […]