The Stripe problem

I wrote about Stripe’s unique fundraise in Secfi’s newsletter, Founders and Funders. You can read a bit more here.

I’ve had a lot of good reactions to it from Stripe employees and non-Stripe employees. However, I am a bit shocked to hear some of the stories from the Stripe employees we are working with.

Like most of us, a lot of Stripe equity holders got caught up in the mad rush of 2021 and had thought Stripe would have been public by now. The risk that some people took on to exercise Stripe options is downright scary.

I’m seeing a lot of people who borrowed against their 401ks, borrowed money from family and friends, exercised with no way to pay on the hopes that they would be public, etc. Some even took risky recourse type loans and most of those people have been completely wiped out.

Yes, they’re now in a position where they are getting nothing from the Stripe shares because they took on leverage to exercise. It’s really freakin’ sad. A lot are blaming Stripe for this problem and while I do share the sentiment that they probably should be public already, it’s also on each individual to make the right choice for themselves. Unfortunately a lot of these individuals made the wrong choice.