They're talking about the amount of time you have after leaving a company to exercise the stock options that you were granted, effectively purchasing them at par value. This has huge tax implications, and requires quite a bit of cash on the spot.

Traditionally, the period has been ~90 days, which makes it even harder to weigh your tax options and come up with the $$$$ to exercise the options. Since its expensive, and has a short window of execution, the practice has been viewed by many to be unfair. The Stock Options were a part of your compensation - part of the Risk vs Reward balance you choose when you worked for a startup, and now if you don't have thousands of dollars to spare on a gamble - you forfit those options back to the Company.

By extending the period to 10 years, you have the ability plan accordingly, see if the company will eventually exit, and exercise them when the time is right.

Great explanation.

Personally, I was hoping it was an article giving me an excuse to pursue 10 years of intense exercise and outdoor adventure.

If a company grants you stock options as part of your compensation, you need still need to pay to get the stock. That's called exercising the options.

If you leave the company, there is a limited window of time to exercise the option. If you don't exercise it, the stock gets returned back to the company.

This post is favoring that window being long and is responding to blog post favoring that window being short.

So the white-shoe Sand Hill Road crowd is averse to having a potentially large long term liability if things go awesome. This is some bold, 19th century robber baron stuff. Wow.

Same here. I read that as physical exercise.