By Yuliya ChernovaEmployees of Lend

By Yuliya Chernova

Employees of LendingClub Corp., a startup that runs a peer-to-peer lending platform, got an opportunity to earn some extra cash last year.

They were offered the chance to sell to Google Inc. a portion of their share in the company, which they owned via stock options that were granted to them when they were hired.

The transaction, in which Google paid $125 million for shares pooled from employees and early investors, worked well for LendingClub, says its CEO and founder Renaud Laplanche.

One reason is that his San Francisco-based company was able to take on Google as a new investor without having to issue new equity. It didn’t need to raise capital.

Another upside is that the arrangement made it possible for LendingClub’s employees to cash in their stock options even though the company is still privately held.

“We killed two birds with one stone,” says Mr. Laplanche.

This type of deal is becoming more common among late-stage companies. There were about 40 such sales greater than $10 million in size last year, according to an estimate by SecondMarket Holdings Inc., which helps other companies conduct such deals. That’s up from about 10 to 15 in 2012.

“Additionally, we have seen a significant increase in activity that began in Q4 and has persisted in the first quarter of 2014,” said Amanda Sydor, a spokeswoman for SecondMarket, via email.

It used to be that stock options would only become of real value after a company’s IPO. In some cases, employees were able to cash in early, but they would have to first quit their employer and sell shares via brokers. Now, many large startups are offering employees a chance to sell a portion of their stake, at the same time as continuing to hold onto the rest.

Stock options are an important recruiting tool for startups, according to Jonathan Ebinger, general partner at BlueRun Ventures, a venture firm that backs early-stage companies. “The basic fact that there is a trade-off between salary and equity remains in place, with startups having less cash than equity to trade with to get key employees,” he says.

In LendingClub’s case employees weren’t permitted to sell more than 10% of their stock options, said Mr. Laplanche. But that turned out to be unnecessary.

“We got less shares than we thought we’d get,” says Mr. Laplanche. On average, employees sold about 2% to 3% of their vested stock options, the CEO adds.

The employees have something to look forward to. LendingClub is planning to go public, potentially later this year, says Mr. Laplanche. Should the price of its shares increase by then, its employees could get even more out of their stock options.

Some companies are allowing employees to sell early because they want to reduce the pressure for going public. That was the case for SurveyMonkey, an online survey company. As The Wall Street Journal detailed last year, it used the services of SecondMarket to connect employees and other early shareholders and enable them to sell $444 million in equity to institutional investors including Google Inc. and Tiger Global Management LLC.

結果 (中文) 2:

通过尤利娅·切诺LendingClub公司，运行一个对等的贷款平台的启动，职工得赚，去年外快的机会。他们提出出售给谷歌公司自己的份额部分的机会公司，他们通过了授予他们的股票期权拥有的，当他们被录用了。本次交易，其中谷歌支付了$ 1.25亿员工和早期投资者汇集股，运作良好的LendingClub表示，其首席执行官和创始人雷诺Laplanche。其中一个原因是他的家位于旧金山的公司能够承担谷歌作为一个新的投资者，而无需发行新股。它并不需要筹集资金。另外一个好处是，该装置使人们有可能为LendingClub的员工兑现他们的股票期权，即使该公司仍在私人控股。“ 我们杀死二鸟一石，”Laplanche先生说： 。这种类型的交易越来越普遍后期阶段的公司之一。有大约40个这样的销量超过$ 1000万美元的规模，去年，据估计通过SecondMarket的控股公司，它可以帮助其他企业进行这样的交易。这是从大约10至15日在2012年。“ 此外，我们已经看到，始于第四季度和2014年第一季度一直坚持一个显著增加活动量，说：”阿曼达Sydor的发言人SecondMarket的，通过电子邮件，它使用以股票期权只有将公司的首次公开发行后成为了真正的价值。在某些情况下，员工们能够早日套现，但他们必须首先放弃他们的雇主，并通过经纪公司出售股份。现在，许多大型新兴公司为员工提供的继续守住其余出售其股份的一部分，在同一时间的机会。股票期权是一个重要的招聘工具创业公司，根据乔纳森埃宾杰，在BlueRun创投基金的普通合伙人，一个风险投资公司的备份早期阶段的公司。“基本的事实，那就是薪水与公平之间的权衡仍然存在，与具有比股票少现金的创业与获得关键员工，交 ​​易”他说，在LendingClub的情况下，员工都不得超过销售更多他们的股票期权的10％，Laplanche先生说。但是，这竟然是没有必要的。“ 我们得到了更小的股份比我们以为我们会得到，”Laplanche说。平均而言，员工售出约2％至他们的既得股票期权3％，该公司首席执行官补充说，员工有什么期待。LendingClub正计划上市，可能会在今年晚些时候，Laplanche说。如果其股票增加那么价格，员工可以得到更加充分地利用他们的股票期权。一些公司允许员工提前出售，因为他们希望降低上市的压力。这对于SurveyMonkey，一项网上调查公司的情况。正如华尔街日报的详细去年，它采用SecondMarket的的服务来连接员工和其他早期股东，使他们卖$ 444亿美元的股权投资机构，包括谷歌和老虎环球管理公司。

結果 (中文) 3:

通过Yuliya ChernovaLendingClub的公司员工，启动运行一个P2P借贷平台，有了一个机会，去年挣点外快。他们被提供给谷歌公司的机会出售他们的部分股份，他们拥有通过股票期权，被授予他们时，他们被雇用。交易，其中谷歌斥资1亿2500万美元收购了来自员工和早期投资者，做的好的LendingClub，称其创始人兼CEO Renaud Laplanche。一个原因是，他的总部位于三藩的公司能够把谷歌作为新的投资者，而不需要发行新的股票。它不需要筹集资金。另一个好处是，安排使得LendingClub的员工兑现他们的股票期权虽然公司仍然是私有的。“我们是一举两得，说：”拉普兰奇先生。这种类型的交易变得越来越普遍，在后期的公司。大约有40个这样的销售超过1000万美元的规模，去年，据估计由SecondMarket控股公司，帮助其他公司进行这样的交易。这是由约10至2012，在15。“此外，我们已经看到在活动开始在Q4和一直坚持在第一季度的2014大幅增加，”阿曼达说西多尔，为SecondMarket发言人通过电子邮件。过去的股票期权只会成为公司股票发行后的实际价值。在某些情况下，在早期的员工能够兑现，但他们必须先通过经纪人的买卖股票退出他们的雇主。现在，许多大公司都提供给员工一个机会来出售他们的股份，同时继续坚持到其他人。股票期权是一种重要的招聘工具的公司，据乔纳森Ebinger在BlueRun Ventures的普通合伙人，创业企业所支持的初创公司。他说：“薪酬与股权之间的权衡是基本事实，而与公司相比，公司的现金要比股票交易少，以获得关键员工的交易，”他说。在LendingClub的情况员工不允许出售超过10%的股票期权，说拉普兰奇先生。但那是多余的。“我们有股比我们想得少，说：”拉普兰奇先生。首席执行官补充说，平均而言，员工在他们的股票期权中卖出了大约2%到3%的股票。雇员们有什么期待。LendingClub正在计划上市，今年可能后来说拉普兰奇先生。如果股票价格上升了，那么它的员工可以从股票期权中获得更多的股票。一些公司允许员工提前销售，因为他们想减少对公众的压力。这是一个在线调查SurveyMonkey的情况下，公司。正如华尔街日报详细的去年，它用SecondMarket的服务连接员工和其他早期的股东，使他们能够出售4亿4400万美元的资产包括谷歌公司和老虎全球管理公司机构投资者