New top story on Hacker News: Ask HN: Startup employees getting nothing after acquisition, is this normal?

Ask HN: Startup employees getting nothing after acquisition, is this normal?
5 by throwaway23334 | 1 comments on Hacker News.
throwaway account for obvious reasons, but here are the facts: - startup founded in early 2010's, took on some venture funding and recently got acquired - startup forced employees to exercise options within 90 days of leaving company, so lots of employees exercised options with post tax dollars. I would guess anywhere from $500k - $1 million. - all financials released to shareholders, company is now profitable and has a decent warchest. - Series A,B,... etc investors getting some money back because they have preferred shares - employee options/common stock are now worth nothing because of liquidation preference - multiple executives receiving 7 figure payouts Is this common practice? Is there anything we can do as ex-employee shareholders? Are there any instances of companies paying back their employees for the option exercises during an exit event? What would you do as a founder in this instance?