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People spent a lot less time working and a lot more time checking the stock price and estimating their net worth. As the stock headed south, and the press start
by vechagup 7y ago
People spent a lot less time working and a lot more time checking the stock price and estimating their net worth. As the stock headed south, and the press started writing mean articles about us, morale went south.
Lunchtime talk started to focus on money. Some people nursed unrealistic fantasies about an upward turn in the stock. Those of us who were more cynical sold our shares earlier and were happier in the long run. Eventually most of us moved on to other companies. The company is headed down the drain, but many of us are still friends. I bought a condo.
- frausto 7y agoSpooky how similar this sounds to my own experience. I would add as well that if the acquiring company does not have a solid plan for how to integrate your team/product... you're gonna have a bad time.
- phasetransition 7y ago100 virtual upvotes as this is my exact experience for 2019 after an acquisition.
- baron816 7y agoI don’t think it makes sense not to sell your stock from a portfolio theory standpoint.
- IshKebab 7y agoYeah unless you like unnecessary risk, or have some solid inside knowledge that something amazing is about to happen, you should sell as soon as you can. Ask yourself if you would buy shares at that company if you didn't work there.
- nothrabannosir 7y ago> Ask yourself if you would buy shares at that company if you didn't work there. Worse: if you did work there. You’re already heavily invested in other aspects of your life. Do you really want to put more eggs in that basket? The answer could be yes, but be aware of the risk.
- hinkley 7y agoI’m pretty sure that people who say things like, “if I’d have invested $10k in Apple in 2008 I’d be a millionaire” are so far from right that they aren’t even wrong. Nobody holds on to a winning lottery ticket that long. You cannot exit at the top and trying to do so will drive you crazy. I think you and your friends were right. I had a coworker that was selling his stock as fast as he could and it finally dawned on me that he was doing the right thing. When you work at a place, you are investing your time an energy into an idea. If you hold stock in that place, you aren’t diversified. If the stock tanks, layoffs are more likely to happen. And then you are broke and jobless. There are very few companies you can work for where your own stock is the best bet on the stock market, and second best is often pretty darn good. Gamble on a different income stream.
- spurdoman77 7y agoThere is no right or wrong, it also comes down to personal preferences. Many seriously rich people probably havent been diversifying that much. Also, a middle ground is possible. Sell some of the stock for safety, and take risk with the rest.
- saryant 7y agoSeriously rich people, yes. But comfortably rich? You’re more likely to get there with diversification than concentration.
- spurdoman77 7y agoI dont really see the difference, wealth is wealth. Also what is enough money varies from person to person. In a low income country you can retire nicely on couple of millions, somewhere else you need ten millions to have a nice house and lifestyle. Whether you want to take bigger or smaller risks is up to the person in question.
- fastball 7y ago"Seriously" rich people got lucky. You shouldn't bet on getting lucky.
- tixocloud 7y agoIs there any way for a founder to turn the acquisition/liquidity event into a half decent moment for employees of the startup?
- mojuba 7y agoIt's not only talking about money. According to this classical experiment [1] it reduces productivity even while solving problems, because the prospect of a reward occupies some of your brain's problem solving capacity constantly. [1] Sorry this was the first link that came up in Google: http://thepsychreport.com/books/how-incentives-hinder-innovation-creativity/ http://thepsychreport.com/books/how-incentives-hinder-innova...