No specific horror story. Just the fact that as a young employee in the tech industry I had no idea that ISOs trick you into thinking that they are something even distantly related to a regulated system of financial instruments.
When in fact it's just a cover for "the CEO does whatever he wants" and your stock is pretty much arbitrary and has no guarantees whatsoever. Dilution (the biggest scam of all), valuation, down rounds, lock-up periods, etc. You go in (young) thinking that the appearance of financial instruments means they have some protection, but they don't.
In fact, I sometimes think that this should be more heavily regulated, and why does the IRS/SEC bother to oversee some aspects of this but let the other aspects completely blow in the wind. But maybe that's just how this industry is, and no policymaker will care enough for this concerns of this specialized (and yes, fortunate and high-paid anyway) workforce.
When in fact it's just a cover for "the CEO does whatever he wants" and your stock is pretty much arbitrary and has no guarantees whatsoever. Dilution (the biggest scam of all), valuation, down rounds, lock-up periods, etc. You go in (young) thinking that the appearance of financial instruments means they have some protection, but they don't.
In fact, I sometimes think that this should be more heavily regulated, and why does the IRS/SEC bother to oversee some aspects of this but let the other aspects completely blow in the wind. But maybe that's just how this industry is, and no policymaker will care enough for this concerns of this specialized (and yes, fortunate and high-paid anyway) workforce.
But at least go in with eyes open and informed.