If you make a promotion, we should issue a new stock option grant for the number of options that corresponds to the difference between your old level and new level.

This is also the case if you currently have more options than what your old level is eligible for for example, this can occur if you joined early in the history of the company. If we didn't please contact people operations. At GitLab we strongly believe in employee ownership in our Company. We are in business to create value for our shareholders and we want our employees to benefit from that shared success.

In this document only accessible to GitLab team members and applicantsyou can find some more details on the number of shares outstanding and the most recent valuations. At GitLab, we give equity grants in the form of Incentive Stock Options ISOs and Non-Qualified Stock Options NSOs. The difference in these two types of grants are, generally, as follows: ISOs are issued to US employees and carry a special form of tax treatment recognized by the US Internal Revenue Service IRS.

NSOs are granted to contractors and non-US employees. The reason we give stock options instead of straight stock is that you do not need to spend any money to purchase the stock at the date of grant and can decide to purchase the stock later as your options vest.

In addition, we do not provide straight stock grants since this may subject you to immediate tax liabilities. Again, this is a general summary of the tax treatment of your options and you should consult a tax advisor prior to taking any actions in the future which could trigger tax liabilities.

Vesting means that you have to remain employed by, or are otherwise a service provider to, GitLab for a certain period of time before you can fully own the stock purchased under your stock option. Instead of giving you the right to purchase and own all of the common stock under your stock option on day one, you get to own the stock under your stock option in increments over time. This process is called vesting and different companies offer vesting schedules of different lengths.

At GitLab, our standard practice is to issue options with a four year vesting schedule so you would own a quarter of your stock after 12 months, half of your stock after two years, and all of it after 4 years.

Vesting and Exercising Stock Options

A cliff is a period at the beginning of the vesting period where your equity does not vest monthly, but instead vests at the end of the cliff period. At most companies, including GitLab, this cliff period is generally one year.

This helps keep the ownership of GitLab stock to folks who have worked at the company for a meaningful amount of time. This section deals with dilution which happens to all companies over time.

In general companies issue stock from time to time in the future. For example, if company XYZ needs to raise money from outside investors, it may need to create new stock to sell to those investors.

The effect of additional stock issuances by company XYZ is that while you will own the same number of shares as you did before such issuance, there will be more total shares of outstanding and, as a result, you will own a smaller percent of the company — this is called dilution.

Dilution does not necessarily mean reduced value. Please note that until the post IPO lockup period has expired or we are bought company stock is not liquid. If your employment ends for whatever reason you have a 90 day window to exercise your options.

During this window you have to come up with the exercise price and in some cases the tax on the gain in value of your stock options, which could be considerable.

If the company stock is not liquid this money might be hard to come by. The 90 day window is an industry standard but there are good arguments against it. At GitLab the stock options are intended to commit our team members to get us to a successful IPO. We want to motivate and reward our people for reaching that goal.

Therefore we will consider exercise window extensions only on a case by case basis at our discretion. An example of a situation we'll consider is a valued team member quitting because of personal circumstances.

In most cases there will be no extension and you will either have to pay for shares and the taxes yourself or lose the options, even when you are fully vested. And of course an IPO in is our public ambition but neither timing or if it happens at all is guaranteed.

We use eShares to administer our stock option program. You will receive a grant notice to your GitLab email address. Clicking through that email will enable you to set up a user account at eShares.

You can find all of the terms and conditions of the stock program as well as your specific grant within the eShares system. As a helpful hint we suggest that you add a second, private email address to your profile.

This can be added by clicking on your name in the upper right hand corner and selecting "update profile". You pay the exercise price that was set when the options were first granted and you get stock certificates back. To give employees an opportunity to benefit from any existing tax incentives that may be available including under the US and the Dutch tax laws we have made the stock immediately exercisable. This means you can exercise your right to purchase the unvested shares under your option to 100 secrets of binary options indicator your holding period.

However, the Company retains a repurchase rights for the unvested shares if your employment or other services ends for any reason. An early exercise of unvested stock may have important tax implications and you should consult your tax advisor before making such decision. Also, while the company has the right to repurchase the unvested shares upon your termination of services, the company is not obligated to do so.

Accordingly you could lose some or all of the investment you made. Because we are a young company there are lots of risks so be aware and informed of the risks. Please read this quora thread about most startups failing and this story of people paying more in tax for their stock than they get back. Options are approved by the Board of Directors at regularly scheduled quarterly board meetings. After your grant has been approved by the Board you will receive a grant notice by margin money for writing nifty options from eShares containing information relevant to the grant including the number of shares, exercise price, vesting period and other key terms.

Note for US residents: Send a copy of the election form to the CFO. Executive stock options differential risk-taking incentives and firm value will most likely want to include the following letter when sending in the b election to the IRS.

Please find enclosed two copies of the b election in connection with my purchase of shares of GitLab Inc.

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Please return one copy stamped as received to my attention in the enclosed self addressed stamped envelope. If you leave the company, you will generally have 90 days to exercise your option for any shares that are vested as of the last day of service. You may not purchase unvested shares after your service has ended. If you fail to exercise your option within the 90 days after jobs in computer forensics of service, your option will terminate and you will not be able to purchase any shares under such option.

In addition, trade binary options in canada not otherwise expired through termination of your employment, your stock options expire 10 years after they were issued.

Generally, the exercise price for options granted under the Equity Plan will be at vesting exercising stock options fair market value of such common stock at the date of grant.

In general, the lower a valuation for the shares the better for employees as there is more opportunity for gain. Additionally, a lower exercise price reduces the cash required to exercise the shares and establish a holding period which can have tax advantages in some countries. We describe those here but as always check with your financial or tax advisor before taking any action. Tax law is complex and you should consult a tax attorney or other tax advisor who is familiar with startup stock options before making any decisions.

Tax will be due on the gain or profit you make when you sell the stock difference between the exercise price and the sale price. Depending on your holding period, the tax may be treated as ordinary income or capital gain. Please note, however, that any gain upon exercise of an ISO difference between returning earnest money deposit exercise price and fair market value at date of exerciseeven if you do not sell the shares, may be counted as a "tax preference" towards the Alternative Minimum Tax limit.

You should contact a tax advisor to see if this would apply to you. In addition to the benefits of a longer holding period the IRS does have an additional benefit for holders of Qualified Small Business Stock QSBS for short. Currently, GitLab meets the criteria for QSBS treatment however, again the Company is not in a position to offer tax or legal advice so check with your own tax and financial advisors.

We found this article helpful in describing the QSBS program in greater detail. Generally, for Non-qualified Stock Options NSOsyou are taxed on any gain upon exercise of a NSO difference between the exercise price and fair market value at date of exercise. This complicates the tax law and is beyond the current scope of this document. For our employees based in the Netherlands, the Dutch taxing authority has a similar concept in that only the difference between the exercise price and the fair market value is considered taxable.

So if you exercise early there is no difference between the two and therefore no taxable gain. With respect to tax reporting, you report the difference between fair market value at exercise and the exercise price. So if there is no difference between the two, nothing needs to be reported.

Once you have exercised options, then you will need to speak with your tax advisor about how to report them for the purposes of Dutch wealth tax. Again the Company is not in a position to offer tax or legal advice around early exercising or tax reporting, so check with your own tax and financial advisors. However, everyone should also consult a lawyer before making important financial decisions, especially regarding their equity because there are complex legal and tax requirements that may apply.

Our team member Drew Blessing wrote about what he learned about stock options after starting to research them because he received them when joining us. His article is greatly appreciated but GitLab Inc. Sign In Sign Up Install Features Products Community Blog Contact Explore Sign In Sign Up. About Your Ownership in GitLab At GitLab we strongly believe in employee ownership in our Company.

Stock Options At GitLab, we give equity grants in the form of Incentive Stock Options ISOs and Non-Qualified Stock Options NSOs. Vesting Vesting means that you have to remain employed by, or are otherwise a service provider to, GitLab for a certain period of time before you can fully own the stock purchased under your stock option. Dilution This section deals with dilution which happens to all companies over time. Exercise Window After Termination Please note that until the post IPO lockup period has expired or we are bought company stock is not liquid.

Administration We use eShares to administer our stock option program. Exercising Your Options "Exercising your options" means buying the stock guaranteed by your options. How to Exercise Your Stock Options Options are approved by the Board of Directors at regularly scheduled quarterly board meetings. There are two methods to exercise your shares: Electronic US Residents Only Log into your eShares account Follow directions to enable ACH payments from your bank After ACH has been enabled select exercise option grants and follow the prompts Manual Non ACH and Non US Residents Log into your eShares account Click on "View" right hand side of screen Click on "Attachments and Notes" Click on "Form of Exercise Agreement" Complete the form, sign, and return as PDF to the CFO Send payment in US dollars by wire transfer.

You will be provided wire transfer info.

Exercise Prices and A Valuations Generally, the exercise price for options granted under the Equity Plan will be at the fair market value of such common stock at the date of grant. Taxes Tax law is complex and you should consult a tax attorney or other tax advisor who is familiar with startup stock options before making any decisions.

References Our team member Drew Blessing wrote about what he learned about stock options after starting to research them because he received them when joining us. Twitter Facebook YouTube LinkedIn Products Features Enterprise Edition Community Edition GitLab. Services Resellers Consultancy Development Training. Community Events Core Team Contributors Documentation Getting Help Contributing Applications Hall of Fame.

Company Source Code Blog Press and Logos About Us Team Direction Handbook 13 Open Jobs Terms Contact Us. This page is generated from a public file on GitLab.