Having shares in a company means you own a part of the company.

Options are the option for you to get shares in the company without actually having to buy them today. i.e you have the choice to buy these options while you are an employee with almost no financial risk.

When you join CybSafe, you’ll be awarded share options (sometimes called stock options) as part of your compensation package. This gives everyone a meaningful stake in the long-term success of the company.

"Options? Vesting? Cliffs?" If you are thinking wtf is this all about, here’s a short guide to everything you need to know about options...

(All numbers are for illustrative purposes, and isn’t tax advice!)

Why offer options to tribe members?

We’re building something special at CybSafe. We’re ambitious, committed and focused. And we’re excited to see where this journey will take us. We want every member of the tribe who has fully committed to this mission to benefit when we reach the final destination.

We also want tribe members to feel a sense of ownership and be proud and protective of what they are building. We want to reward people who are committed to what we are doing for the long term.

Granting you options helps with this process by (a) aligning your incentives with those of the business, (b) rewarding you financially for long-term service and (c) retaining you in the business.

What is a share?

Shares are units of ownership interest in the company that provide equal distribution rights in any profits and its assets. When an individual buys shares in a company, they become one of its owners. Shareholders choose who runs a company and are involved in key decisions.

What is an option?

A contract that gives you the right, but not the obligation to buy shares in the company at agreed (’exercise’ or ‘strike’) price.

What is an EMI Options Scheme?

In the UK and US, you usually pay a capital gains tax on any money you earn. This is typically around 20%+.

Under the UK-approved Enterprise Management Incentive (“EMI”) scheme (something the company has to sign up to and manage) employees only pay 10% capital gains tax as opposed to higher income tax rates. (That is, ****you’ll only be charged capital gains tax at 10% ****on the increase in value over what you pay for the shares - i.e. the ‘exercise’ or ‘strike’ price.)

The EMI scheme is an approved employee share scheme which allows employers to grant share options to key employees’ tax efficiently, as a reward for their efforts within the business and/or to retain and incentivise key staff.

The options scheme we have in place also enables us to grant an incentive stock option (ISO) to US employees in a way that is tax-favourable for US employees.

Why do we have this scheme?

We believe CybSafe is on a path to make it big and we want everyone who helps us get there to have a share in the rewards too. We want them to get the benefit in a tax-efficient way.

Our option scheme grants you an option over "B-Ordinary" shares. These shares won't have certain rights, e.g, voting, but on an exit they attract the same price as other shares in the company.