Some say cold, hard cash and material things are as important as stock options.

When Dave Ross, an marketing director at an online pet store was given options of 20,000 shares of the company at $4, he was estatic. "I knew we would IPO eventually, and sure enough, 5 months later, we did." Dave settled back, smugly sure that even though his salary was less than others in his industry, his stock options would make him a millionare. "I worked at a .com company in the Bay Area that was going public. It was a sure thing." Dave commented. "I really had my eye on a new Porsche Boxster."

Puppydawg goes Public.
When Puppydawg.com IPO'd at $11 and closed that same day at $9, Dave was nervous. When it fell further to $6 after serious doubts about the amount of cash the company had left, Dave felt slightly sick. "At least I knew it couldn't fall below issue price, but would I have enough to get the Porsche Boxster I wanted? What's 20,000 shares at $4 a share if the price is only at $6? $40,000. Before taxes. Suddenly my Boxster looked like it might become a nice, slighty used BMW Z3 instead.

Puppydawg poops out.
"When the market took a dive after Roger Badanes moved out, (See article in this issue)Puppydawg.com hit a whopping $1.75 a share. Suddenly, to buy my options, I would have to actually paylike $42,000 just to get them! That's when, after spending 2 hours with co-workers puking in the men's restroom, that Dave took a long, hard look at his situation.

"Ok, so I won't be getting a new Boxter, but so what? Look at me.. I'm 25 years old, and seriously looking at a slightly used Z3. That ain't bad, you know, and if I drove it back to my 10 year reunion in Mipidgee, Minnesota, you can bet it would blow their socks off."

All in all, Dave says the market dip is just that, a dip, and that in the meantime, he's learned a lot about life and himself. "Next time, I'll definitly negotiate for more salary, instead of just stock options. I'm a marketing director, making only $52,000 a year? Now I've got all of these stock options under water. Man, next time, I want $70,000 *and* the stock options. And it's not gonna be at some .com hole selling rubber carrots to dogs, that's for sure."