Business · Startup equity
Employee equity offer value estimator.
What could an options grant be worth in a few scenarios you choose? Every number below the grant is a placeholder to replace. Startup equity can end up worth nothing. Everything runs in your browser.
Startup equity can end up worth zero, and any figure here is a scenario, not a forecast. 20,000 options out of 10,000,000 fully diluted shares is 0.20%, or 0.14% after 30% more dilution. In a $100,000,000 outcome that is $140,000 minus $10,000 to exercise, $130,000 before tax. Weighting three example outcomes by the chances entered gives $37,300, and the remaining 67% of cases are worth $0.
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Read this first
Startup equity is a bet. Options can end up worth nothing: the company may fail, be sold for less than the investors' preferences, or be diluted by later rounds, and you must pay the strike price to exercise. This page cites no statistics about how often each outcome happens. The exit values and chances in the form are placeholders you must replace with your own judgement, and the output should not be used to compare a job offer against a salary as if it were a sure amount.
How the estimate is built
Your starting ownership is options / fully diluted shares (fully diluted means counting issued shares plus shares that could come from convertible stock and from option exercise, and sometimes the unallocated pool: Cooley GO). Later funding rounds shrink that percentage, so the calculator multiplies by (1 - dilution). In each scenario the value is ownership at exit x exit value for common holders, minus the exercise cost (options x strike), floored at zero because you would not exercise underwater options. The probability-weighted value is the sum of each scenario's value times its chance you enter; the leftover chance is treated as worth zero.
Worked example
20,000 options, 10,000,000 fully diluted shares: 0.20%. After 30% dilution, 0.14%. Exercise cost 20,000 x $0.50 = $10,000. Low ($20,000,000): 0.14% x 20,000,000 = $28,000, less $10,000 = $18,000. Base ($100,000,000): $140,000 - $10,000 = $130,000. High ($500,000,000): $700,000 - $10,000 = $690,000. With chances of 20%, 10% and 3%: 0.20 x 18,000 + 0.10 x 130,000 + 0.03 x 690,000 = 3,600 + 13,000 + 20,700 = $37,300, or $9,325 a year over four years. The remaining 67% is valued at zero. Change the chances and the answer moves a lot.
Limits
Exit value for common holders is not the headline sale price: investor preferences are paid first (see the exit waterfall calculator). The estimate also ignores unvested options you forfeit by leaving, the time value of money, post-departure exercise deadlines, tax (including 409A and 83(b) in the US) and the cash needed to exercise. Ask the company for the share count, the latest valuation, the preferences and the exercise terms, and talk to an adviser before relying on any of it.
Sources, opened 8 October 2026: Cooley GO glossary, Exercise Price (in the money and out of the money); Cooley GO glossary, Fully Diluted Shares; Cooley GO glossary, Liquidation Preference (investors in most venture-backed companies are paid before common stockholders); Wikipedia, Employee stock option (exercise price paid, shares issued).
Frequently asked questions
How much are my startup options worth?
Nobody can tell you from a formula. This page turns a grant into an ownership percentage and shows values for scenarios you choose, but the exit value and the chance of each are your own assumptions, and the equity can end up worth zero.
How do I turn an options grant into a percentage?
Divide your options by the company's fully diluted shares. 20,000 of 10,000,000 is 0.20%, before later dilution.
Why does dilution matter?
Each new funding round and option pool top-up creates shares, so your percentage shrinks. A 30% future dilution turns 0.20% into 0.14%.
Why is the exit value not the sale price?
Investors with liquidation preferences are paid before common stockholders, and debt and fees come first. Use the exit waterfall calculator to estimate what common holders receive.
Should I compare equity with salary?
Treat equity as a possible upside you may never receive, not as guaranteed pay. Ask the company for the cap table details and speak to a professional adviser.
Educational only. Not legal, tax or investment advice.
Planning and learning aid only. Real terms depend on the signed documents and your jurisdiction. Tax treatment (409A valuations, 83(b) elections, ISOs and similar) is left to a qualified professional. Amounts are in any one currency; the symbol is only a label. Equity can be worth nothing. This estimator is not a prediction of value.