Private Company Stock Options

ISOs, NSOs, RSAs, Cap Tables, and the Equity Decisions That Shape Your Company

By: William McNarland CFA

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

You gave them equity. But do you actually understand what you gave away?

Most founders know stock options matter. Fewer understand the mechanics behind ISOs, NSOs, RSAs, vesting schedules, exercise prices, and 409A valuations. Eventually a tax bill, a disgruntled employee, or an auditor forces the conversation.

This book is your CFO sitting across the table, walking you through every equity decision you'll face from incorporation to exit.

Inside, you'll learn:

• How to design an option pool that attracts talent without giving away the company
• The real differences between ISOs and NSOs, and why picking wrong costs everyone money
• What your 409A valuation actually means and how to use it strategically
• How to read and manage your cap table through seed rounds, Series A, and beyond
• The tax consequences your employees don't know about (but will blame you for)
• How to handle equity in offer letters, early exercise, secondary sales, and down rounds
• What auditors expect when they come knocking about stock-based compensation
• How to clean up your equity before an exit so nothing blows up the deal

Written in the same conversational style as the first six books in the series, Private Company Stock Options turns a complex, jargon-heavy topic into something any founder can understand and act on.

Book Seven in the series A Founder's Conversations with a Fractional CFO.