Fundraising & Equity
Post-Termination Exercise Window
Collated by Harry Prabandham
Curated by Rubric Financial
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What the Exercise Window Is
- The post-termination exercise window is the period after an employee leaves during which they can exercise their vested stock options before they expire
- The standard window is 90 days for ISOs and 90 days for NSOs — but many modern startups are extending NSO windows to 5-10 years
- ISOs must be exercised within 90 days of termination to retain their tax-advantaged status; after that, they automatically convert to NSOs
- If an employee cannot afford to exercise within the window, they forfeit all vested options — effectively losing years of earned equity
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