I couldn't think of any scenario - unless there was something profoundly personal/family oriented going on - where someone in his position would leave before they have vested.
I had the good fortune of joining Sun the day the Monday after they went public. There were certainly people who left 180 days later, even though they had unvested pre-IPO stock, because the return on their vested stock was 'enough' for the next stage of their life.
There was also a clue in their S-1 [1] where his name is not included in the 'executive compensation' section, generally that is a sign that either he won't be continuing on with the company going forward (likely case) or that if he quit it would not materially affect the company (hence not of interest in the prospectus)
Given that he's been there 3 years out of four, has a C level position, and all of the other C level jobs have multiple millions of shares, lets give him a 'lowball' grant of 4M shares. So 3/4 are vested and that is 3M shares. So FB is currently $30/share but lets say he sells all 3M and pays 50% in taxes. Lets be even more pessimistic and say that his sale pushes the price down to $25, that is 1.5M shares @ $25 that he pockets free and clear. So $37.5M in the bank. Perhaps he did this math and said, "You know, I've got lots of things I want to do and that chunk of money would give me the freedom to do it until I die."
You would be very very surprised at how common this is. Lots of people leave 50% thru vesting; it can be remarkably demoralizing if you're of the entrepreneurial mindset to work for four years in a large organization.
"Getting in over your head" is brilliant advice. I've spent the past six months working on developing my programming abilities. A few weeks in, I spent a few hours on learning basic recursive functions. It was frustrating to work through, but after a while it just clicked. Yeah, it's a simple concept to me now, but at the time it was really difficult. Keep working at it, and work even harder when you hit something you don't know (you will).
I want to work with a team where I'm motivated intrisically to do so; not because I know if I don't hit number X or Y I'm going to be terminated immediately. This may work for some people, but I couldn't handle having that over my head.
Do I know for sure? No. Currently though, it looks like what I'd be most interested in.
I chased the money after graduating, and it hasn't worked out the way I wanted it too - honestly, at this point, as long as I can afford rent, student loans, PBR and the occasional concert ticket, I'm a happy camper. I just want a position that allows me to work with great people, learn, be creative, and grow as a person.
Thanks for the advice. Again - worth waiting for the position I want (potentially a long shot) or getting my foot in the door (and potentially transferring)?
Obviously I don't know all the details but you've got two disparate but important things to take into consideration here:
(1) A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. To have the job now even though it's not exactly what you want is important for the aforementioned reasons. Not to mention the possibility of transfer. I would lean this way.
(2) HOWEVER, I am the type of person who won't shine unless I'm doing what I love and am passionate about. If you are the same and think that might have a hinderance on your performance then hold off. If you have the discipline to buckle down even though you don't like your job then refer back to #1. By judging your opportunities, I would surmise you have the discipline that I lack.
Again, thanks. Definitely something to think about. I very much to have the capacity to 'buckle down' and do something that isn't my number one priority, if it has the potential to pay off in the future. At this point, thanks to your comments, I'm leaning to just applying for both positions and just seeing what happens.
