ESOPs Baatcheet with Sandeep Jethwani and Shweta Rajpal Kohli
India's startup employees are sitting on over ₹14 lakh crore of ESOP wealth. Yet as per a Dezerv survey, fewer than half can work out how many shares they've actually earned.
The instrument that could become the biggest financial outcome of your career is probably the one you understand least. And every decision about it — when to exercise, whether to sell in a buyback, whether to stay one more year for the next vest — you've likely made alone, with no one to compare notes with.
This session puts those questions on the table.
What we'll get into:
1) How to actually value the equity in an offer
2) The tax that hits before the payday, and the 90-day window most people discover too late
3) When holding your full stake is conviction, and when it's an unhedged bet
4) Golden handcuffs: when staying for the next vest is a wealth decision, and when it's a story you're telling yourself
5) What to do with the money once it's real
The conversation- facilitated by Sandeep Jethwani, co-founder of Dezerv and author of The Millionaire Employee, India's first comprehensive guide to ESOP wealth — drawing on a question bank of 1,000+ real questions from ESOP holders.
We'll close with a policy round facilitated by Shweta Rajpal Kohli, President & CEO, Startup Policy Forum, on the challenges that exist due to written into tax law.
Hosted by the Startup Policy Forum and Dezerv.
Seats are limited. This is a candid, closed-room discussion, please come with the questions you've never asked out loud.
Startup Policy Forum is India's leading industry body for India's new-age economy, representing 75+ of India's largest and fastest growing startups as its members, with a combined valuation of more than $100 billion.
Note: This event is part of Basecamp, a community-powered tech week in Bengaluru bringing founders, builders, and operators together. Basecamp is free for the community and powered by the community.