Insights

Guides on private equity, valuation methods, tax planning, and negotiation. Written for startup employees — no jargon, real numbers.

Featured

Company deep-dive

What is your OpenAI equity worth in 2026?

A deep-dive into OpenAI's $852B valuation: how PPUs work, secondary market signals, and what the path to liquidity looks like for current employees.

2026-04-15 · 8 min read

Equity education

PPUs explained: how OpenAI's Profit Participation Units work

OpenAI doesn't grant RSUs or options — they grant PPUs. We explain what they are, how they vest, and how critically different the tax treatment is from normal equity.

2025-04-28 · 6 min read

Tax guide

The ISO AMT trap: how a $0 tax bill became a $200k liability

Exercising ISOs triggers the Alternative Minimum Tax, even if you can't sell the shares. We explain the trap with a real-number example and strategies to avoid it.

2025-04-25 · 10 min read

Market analysis

Private market valuations in 2025: what secondary prices are saying

Secondary market prices for top unicorns are diverging sharply from their last primary round valuations. We analyse the gap and what it signals about IPO timing.

2025-05-01 · 9 min read

Equity education

The complete guide to unicorn startup equity in 2026

Everything a startup employee needs to know about equity at late-stage private companies: how it's structured, how to value it, how to access liquidity, and how to avoid the most common mistakes.

2026-05-10 · 12 min read

Tax guide

Startup equity taxes: the complete guide for 2026

A practical guide to the tax implications of RSUs, ISOs, NSOs, and PPUs at private companies — covering vesting, exercise, and liquidity events.

2026-02-15 · 10 min read

Market analysis

Private market outlook 2026: what falling rates and AI valuations mean for your equity

The macro environment for private company equity in 2026: falling interest rates, AI valuation premiums, secondary market volume, and what it all means for when to sell or hold.

Insights

Featured

What is your OpenAI equity worth in 2026?

PPUs explained: how OpenAI's Profit Participation Units work

The ISO AMT trap: how a $0 tax bill became a $200k liability

Private market valuations in 2025: what secondary prices are saying

The complete guide to unicorn startup equity in 2026

Startup equity taxes: the complete guide for 2026

Private market outlook 2026: what falling rates and AI valuations mean for your equity

Company deep-dive

Kraken at $21B: what the Nasdaq strategic valuation means for your equity

Temporal at $12.55B: what the Series E means for your equity

Linear at $2.5B: what the doubled valuation means for your equity

CoreWeave at $48.3B: a volatile post-IPO stock swings again

Revolut at $115B: what the secondary sale means for your equity

Klarna at $4.85B: what the post-IPO valuation means for your equity

Mistral AI at $24.4B: what the Series D valuation means for your equity

Harvey AI at $15.5B: what the new growth round means for your equity

Gusto at $10B: the real last round, and a $14B IPO target to watch

Groq at $3.5B: what the down round after the Nvidia deal means for your equity

Form Energy at $2.5B: what the Series G down round means for your options

Figma at $11.6B: what multiple compression means for your RSUs

Fervo Energy at $4.47B: the post-IPO risk employees signed up for

Databricks at $190B: what the new strategic round means beyond the Series L

Cursor at $60B: what the SpaceX all-stock acquisition means for your equity

Cognition AI at $48.0B: what the Series E means for Devin's earliest employees

Chime at $10.1B: a post-IPO pullback, and what volatility means for your shares

Airtable at $2.25B: what the Bending Spoons acquisition means for your equity

Anthropic at $965B: what the Series H valuation means for your RSUs

SpaceX at $1.25 trillion: what the xAI merger means for employee equity

Stripe at $159B: the 2026 tender and what comes next

Databricks at $134B: the Series L and the road to IPO (update: now $190B)

xAI merged into SpaceX: what it means for legacy equity holders

Cursor (Anysphere) equity: $29.3B and growing fast (update: acquired by SpaceX at $60B)

Mistral AI equity: BSPCEs and why France is different

Perplexity equity in 2026: what your ISOs are worth at $22.6B

Anduril equity in 2026: defense tech ISOs at a $61B valuation

Starlink IPO: what it means for SpaceX employee equity

Cursor reaches $500M ARR: what it means for employee equity

Equity education

ISO vs NSO: which matters more at a private company?

What is a 409A valuation and why does it determine your strike price?

Vesting cliffs explained — and why the 1-year cliff protects both sides

RSUs vs options: which would you rather have at a private company?

Selling private company shares on Hiive and Forge: a guide for employees

Early exercise and the 83(b) election: high risk, high reward

How to read a Form D filing — what startup equity data the SEC reveals

What happens to your startup equity when your company is acquired

Liquidation preferences explained — why your equity might be worth less than the headline valuation

The vesting cliff: how it affects your decision to change jobs

The 409A gap: why your official company valuation is always lower than what investors pay

Tax guide

NSOs and ordinary income tax: the complete guide

QSBS: the $10M tax-free exit many startup employees don't know about

Tender offers and taxes: what to expect when your company buys back shares

Form 3921: what it means when you exercise your startup ISOs

Salary negotiation

How to negotiate your equity offer at a private company

Equity refreshes: how to ask for more before your vesting runs out

How to compare two job offers with different equity packages

Equity refreshes and retention grants: how they work and what to negotiate

Market analysis

AI company valuation multiples in 2025: how high is too high?

Defense tech valuations: why Anduril and Palantir get such different multiples

Record secondary market volume in 2025: what it means for private equity

What the secondary market bid-ask spread tells you about your equity

How secondary market prices move relative to primary rounds

What is a secondary market fund — and how do they affect your company's secondary price?

How secondary market pricing actually works at Hiive and Forge

How-to

How to read your cap table and understand your ownership percentage

Your post-termination exercise window: 90 days vs extended windows

Preferred vs common stock: why investors and employees aren't equal at exit

Dilution explained: how new funding rounds reduce your ownership

How to use the PrivatePulse calculator to model your equity

When to sell your private company equity — a framework for the decision