[gunapologist99]

> .... windfall

Odd that you refer to your efforts in a startup as delivering a windfall, as if you didn't earn/expect it, as if it's a lottery ticket.

Should we tax lottery earnings? Sure, why not, since we tax everything else.

But a startup is not a lottery ticket, and we are harming it, at least indirectly and likely directly, by taxing it before it even exists. Even just the paperwork to handle all of this is needless friction.

[triceratops]

Startup stock options are effectively a lottery ticket. Most startup options end up being worth $0 no matter how hard you labor. Your efforts may merit more than that, but to actually expect more is naivete.

If you want real $$ work at a public company.

You're correct that taxing exercised options at a private company is harmful. It happens today. I'm suggesting a fairer alternative.