Options.

Live diligence on opportunities in play — the firms, the companies, and the people behind them.

Last updated: August 10, 2026 at 8:56 PM EDT

● Gold-highlighted items with a New tag are what changed in the latest daily update.

● USD figures shown alongside Euro amounts are approximate conversions at ~1.17 USD/EUR (Aug 22, 2026), for reference only.

+ Add another opportunity

Tell me the firm/company and role and I'll add a card here — same monitoring: news, funding, leadership moves, and founder/exec posts across LinkedIn, X, blogs, and podcasts, summarized right on the page.

Equity model — CoreStory (edit the inputs)

Net-to-you = your (diluted) % × distributable proceeds. Pref-first subtracts the preference stack before common (the conservative / participating case); as-converted assumes preferred convert to common at large exits (the optimistic case) — the real outcome sits between the two. Add expected future dilution, and toggle change-of-control acceleration in the vesting view. Figures are from Carta (Jul 31, 2026). Nothing is saved or sent.

CoreStory (stay)

Your equity % (fully diluted) Preference stack ($M, ahead of common) Expected future dilution %

From Carta, Jul 31, 2026: 1,635,755 FD shares = 3.03% (795,991 vested / 1.69% today). Pref = $92.2M (shares × original issue price) + $4.12M convertibles = $96.3M ahead of common — corrected Aug 11 from $85M, which was cash raised, not preference. See the Waterfall tab for the class-by-class version. Dilution models future rounds (including a possible new PE/strategic round) shrinking your %.

Scenario & assumptions

Exit value ($M)

Preferred treatment

Change-of-control: 100% acceleration (vesting view)

Across exit scenarios

Exit value	CoreStory (you)

Illustrative only until preference amount, participating vs non-participating, option pool, and change-of-control acceleration are confirmed. This uses a simple non-participating approximation (pref paid first, then your % of the remainder); participating preferred and option-pool dilution can move these materially. For the exact class-by-class math, see the Waterfall tab. Not financial advice.

Your CoreStory grant — vesting (from Carta, as of Jul 31, 2026)

Grant	Type	Shares	Strike	Vested	Status
ES-153	NSO · early-exercised (note-financed)	795,991	$1.44	348,246 (44%)	~16,583/mo to Oct 2028
ES-263	ISO	51,246	$0.37	51,246 (100%)	fully vested
ES-225	ISO	10,460	$0.37	10,460 (100%)	fully vested
ES-256	ISO	241,058	$0.37	0	1-yr cliff Nov 20, 2026 (60,264)
ES-266	ISO	537,000	$0.37	0	1-yr cliff May 14, 2027 (134,250)
Total		1,635,755		409,952 (25%)	~456k more vest next 12 mo

Vested today = 409,952 of 1,635,755 fully-diluted shares (25%). Next milestones: monthly ES-153 (~16,583), then the ES-256 cliff on Nov 20, 2026 (+60,264) and the ES-266 cliff on May 14, 2027 (+134,250). Full vest dates: ES-153 Oct 2028, ES-256 Nov 2029, ES-266 May 2030.

Today's paper value

409A common (FMV)

$0.38 / share

$0.38 current per Mike (Sept 2026), pending Carta confirmation — Carta's system of record still shows the prior $0.37 report (eff. Aug 22, 2025, expired Aug 21, 2026). Prior mark reset down from $1.44 (Dec 2024).

Shares × 409A common

≈ $0.62M

1,635,755 × $0.38, marking all shares at common FMV before strike.

Intrinsic value now

≈ $0

ISOs carry a $0.37 strike, one cent under the new $0.38 mark (~$8.4K aggregate spread across 839,764 ISO shares — immaterial); the NSO remains underwater ($1.44). Value is in the upside — see scenarios above.

Common sits behind $96.3M ahead of it in a sale ($92.2M preference + $4.12M convertibles), which is why lower exits pay common nothing at all. Preferred round prices aren't a clean single number here (note/SAFE conversions), so this uses the 409A common FMV. The real value is the exit-scenario upside, not today's paper mark — see the Waterfall tab.

Encumbrance: the ES-153 early-exercise promissory note

The 795,991 ES-153 shares were early-exercised on a $1,146,227 partial-recourse promissory note to the company, not cash. Balance today ≈ $1.22M (4.25%/yr, compounded semi-annually; scheduled due Dec 31, 2033). At a sale, those shares' proceeds repay the note first (~$1.54/share breakeven, rising with interest), so the ES-153 block only nets value above that. You are personally liable for ~51% of principal plus all interest ≈ $660K today (the remaining ~49% is non-recourse, limited to the pledged shares). Most important for the decision: leaving CoreStory is an Event of Default, so the full ~$1.22M accelerates and becomes immediately due, and unvested ES-153 shares (~55%) are repurchased at the lower of $1.44 or FMV, offset against the note. Not legal or tax advice: confirm and negotiate this as part of any exit.

Net effect on the model above: CoreStory exit proceeds should be reduced by the outstanding note (~$1.22M and growing) on the ES-153 block, and a departure carries ~$660K of personal recourse. The exit sliders here do not yet net this out.

Exit paths for the note (all need company consent; get it in writing)

1. Defer to a liquidity event or 2033 (anchor ask)

Waive the departure acceleration and make the note due at the EARLIER of a CoreStory exit or Dec 31, 2033, repaid from actual proceeds. Keep the upside, never write a check out of pocket. The easiest thing for them to grant.

2. Extend / structured payoff

If they will not fully defer, negotiate a multi-year payment plan instead of 'immediately due.'

3. Company accepts the shares in full satisfaction

Them treating it as fully non-recourse (forgiving the ~$660K recourse). A concession, not a right, and forgiven debt can be cancellation-of-debt income (~$660K taxable): model the tax before asking.

4. Fund the payoff

Prepay from cash (no penalty) or a secondary sale, though CoreStory is private with a ROFR and transfer restrictions, so a secondary is hard pre-liquidity.

5. Automatic partial offset (no action)

On departure, unvested ES-153 shares (~55%) are repurchased at the lower of $1.44 or FMV and credited against the note, dropping the balance a bit.

Reality check: surrendering the shares does NOT clear the debt, because it is partial recourse and the shares are underwater vs the note, so ~$660K of recourse stays personal. These are negotiated paths with Anand / the board, not unilateral rights: anchor on #1 and get any deferral in writing before resigning. Not legal or tax advice.

Value at exit by vesting date (CoreStory — vested shares only)

Vesting date — months from today

Exit value	Vested shares' value (net of pref)	If fully vested

Uses your CoreStory preference input above and the same non-participating approximation. Slide the date to see how the two cliffs (Nov 2026, May 2027) unlock value. The gap between the two columns is what's tied to staying through vesting.

Waterfall — CoreStory exit, class by class

The real distribution, built from the full Carta cap table (Aug 11, 2026): every preferred class independently elects to take its 1× liquidation preference or convert to common, whichever pays more. That election is what creates the kinks in your payout curve. Unlike the Equity model tab — which applies a flat percentage — this solves the actual waterfall, then nets your ES-153 promissory note. 53,942,764 fully diluted shares · $92.2M preference stack. Anand's founder payout is broken out alongside yours below, using the same solved common price per share, for reference.

Exit value

Sale price ($M)

Slider is non-linear — more resolution at the low end, where the preference stack decides everything.

ES-153 note balance ($)

$1,146,227 principal + accrued interest at 4.25%/yr. Update as it compounds.

Structure

Preference multiple (×)

Repay ES-153 note from proceeds

Participating preferred (stress case)

Series A-1 senior to other preferred

Repay $4.12M convertibles first

Include unissued option pool

Your position

Fully vested: 795,991 common (ES-153, exercised @ $1.44) + 839,764 options @ $0.37 = 1,635,755
Vested today: 348,246 common + 61,706 options = 409,952 (25%)

Option proceeds are shown net of strike. The note is netted against the ES-153 block only, and floored at zero — you would surrender the shares rather than pay in if they are worth less than the note.

For comparison — Anand's position

Founder common (paid $100 total): 9,437,347
ISO ES-241 ($0.37 strike, vested): 5,880
Fully diluted: 9,443,227 = 17.51% of FD (20.08% outstanding)

5.8× your fully-diluted share count today (5.1× including your pending 200,000-share grant). Same preference-stack and common-PPS logic below — see the "↳ of which Anand" row in the table and the scenario column.

What Anand would make (same exit, same solved common price)

Where the money goes at this exit

Class	Shares	Preference	Treatment	Proceeds	% of exit

“Converted” means the class gave up its preference because taking its share of common paid more — that is the crossover point where common finally participates. Preference is shares × original issue price × the multiple above.

Proceeds across exit scenarios — you vs. Anand

Exit value	Price / common share	Gross (fully vested)	Net of note	Net — vested today	Anand (fully vested)

Anand's column uses the same common-PPS solved above (his founder common + ES-241 ISO, no note, always fully vested) — same mechanics as your own numbers, just his share counts.

What the structure tells you

The preference stack is $92.2M — bigger than the $84.8M raised

Liquidation preference is shares × original issue price, not cash in. Series Seed-2 carries $3.7M of preference against $0 of cash (a note/SAFE conversion), and Series A-1 carries $28.7M on $7.5M of new money because the converting Series A holders brought their preference across. Add the $4.12M of convertibles and common gets nothing below roughly $96.3M. The Equity model tab previously used $85M — cash raised, not preference — and has been corrected.

Series A-1 repriced at $1.899 vs Series A at $6.085 — a ~69% down round

Only 953,832 of 3,993,848 authorized Series A shares are still outstanding; the rest converted into A-1. That is the signature of a pay-to-play recap, and it is why A-1 holds 28.1% fully diluted on $7.5M of new capital. NEA 18 (18.0% FD), Tribeca Access II (9.8%) and SineWave III (7.3%) are the concentration to watch.

Your 3.03% is not 3.03% of an exit until the number gets big

At a $150M sale you take 2.40% of proceeds gross, 1.58% after the note. You do not approach your headline ownership until roughly $500M+ (3.16% gross), once every class has converted and the preference overhang stops binding. Anyone quoting you a flat 3.03% × exit is overstating outcomes at every realistic price.

The note moves your break-even, not just your total

The ES-153 block has to clear $1.53/share before it returns a dollar, and that threshold climbs as interest accrues. Common generally starts participating at a $96.3M exit; your first net dollar arrives at about $100.3M. The note costs you roughly $1.2M at every exit above that — it is a fixed haircut, not a percentage.

Participation is the term that would actually hurt you

Seniority reshuffles who gets paid among the preferred but leaves the residual to common unchanged — toggling A-1 senior does not move your number by a dollar. Participating preferred does: at a $300M exit it takes you from $8.08M to $5.10M. That is the single term worth confirming in the charter.

Vesting is the largest single variable you control

At a $300M exit, fully vested nets you $8.08M against $1.85M vested today — a $6.2M spread riding on staying through the Nov 2026 and May 2027 cliffs. That gap, not the headline percentage, is the real cost of leaving, and it should be priced into any competing offer or negotiated as acceleration.

Modelled as 1× non-participating, pari passu, using original issue prices from the Aug 11, 2026 Carta export. Not in that export and therefore assumed: preference multiples, participation rights, seniority ranking, and dividend accrual. Confirm against the certificate of incorporation before relying on any figure here. Nothing is saved or sent. Not legal, tax, or financial advice.

OutSystems — exercised NSO position, financed via SecFi

You exercised 1,099,942 NSOs at a $0.87 strike using a $12.4M non-recourse advance from SecFi that covered the entire $11.59M exercise-plus-tax bill. Non-recourse means your downside is capped: you can lose the shares but never owe more than they are worth. Figures are from the SecFi financing model (Jul 2026); the net-at-exit calculator below is a simplified reconstruction for quick what-ifs. Nothing is saved or sent.

Bottom line: you hold $179,304 in cash plus 978,948 OutSystems shares, with zero personal downside (the $12.4M advance is non-recourse). At OutSystems' current ~$4.3B mark (≈$12.24/share) those shares are worth ≈$12.0M, below the ~$16.9M SecFi repayment, so your net today floors at the ~$179K you already hold: the non-recourse structure is protecting you. You are back in the money above ~$17/share (≈$6.0B company value), where real upside resumes.

The position

NSO grant (exercised)

Options	1,099,942
Type	NSO
Strike	$0.87
Status	Exercised 2026 (financed)

Cost to exercise

Exercise cost	$955,300
Ordinary income tax	$10,639,147
AMT	$0
Total	$11.59M

An NSO exercise is taxed as ordinary income (45.1% rate here), which is most of the bill. Funded entirely by the SecFi advance.

SecFi advance

Cash advance	$12,400,000
Recourse	Non-recourse
Platform fee	$620,000
Cash left to you today	$179,304

Advance covered exercise + tax + platform/trust fees, leaving $179,304 in your pocket now.

What SecFi is owed at exit, and what you keep

Advance repayment

$12.4M + fee

Principal plus a 12.5%/yr (gross) advance-rate fee, repaid from your proceeds at a liquidity event.

SecFi equity share

120,994 shares

11% of the financed shares (gross), which SecFi keeps.

You retain

978,948 shares

89% of the position: all upside, no personal downside.

Today's paper value

Current secondary price

$12.24 / share

Implied by the current ~$4.3B mark. Cost basis (409A at 2026 exercise) was $22.45; prior rough estimate was ≈ $10.16.

Formal 409A (Sept 2026)

€5.72 / share (~$6.64)

New formal 409A, well below the ~$10.16 rough estimate and the $12.24 secondary price above. At this mark the full 1,099,942-option grant is worth ≈ $7.3M (@ ~1.16 EUR/USD), pushing the position further underwater against the ~$16.9M SecFi repayment than the secondary-price view alone suggests.

Company valuation

$4.3B

Current mark, down from the $9.5B in the SecFi model. Advance was underwritten against ≈ $29.75M of collateral (at $27.05).

Retained shares @ $12.24

≈ $12.0M

978,948 × $12.24, gross of the SecFi advance — currently below the ~$16.9M repayment (see net below).

Net to you at exit (interactive)

Exit assumptions

Exit share price ($)

…or dial by exit valuation ($B)

The two dials are linked: ≈ 351M fully-diluted shares (from $4.3B ÷ $12.24).

Months to exit

SecFi terms (fixed)

Retained shares	978,948
Advance	$12,400,000
Advance-rate fee	12.5% / yr
Cash already received	$179,304

Effective cost of the advance (per SecFi): ~8.8%/yr net plus ~7.75% of your equity: the price of not fronting $11.6M and carrying zero downside.

How to read it

At a liquidity event your 978,948 retained shares are sold and SecFi is repaid the $12.4M advance plus its fee first. Because the advance is non-recourse, your net is floored at $0, plus the $179,304 you already hold. Upside accrues only above SecFi's repayment.

Net to you across exit prices (at the chosen timeline)

Exit price	Exit valuation	Retained shares value	Less SecFi repayment	Net to you (incl. $179K today)

Net to you = your 978,948 retained shares × exit price, less SecFi's repayment (the $12.4M advance plus its fee), floored at $0 because the advance is non-recourse. The fee is calibrated to SecFi's model (principal + fee ≈ $16.87M at 30 months) and accrues over time, so longer holds cost more; SecFi's own model remains authoritative. Source: SecFi OutSystems financing model. Not tax or financial advice.

Allstacks — angel / advisor equity across two profiles (from Carta)

Your Allstacks position sits in two Carta profiles: Mike Lambert (personal, exercised option shares) and Lambert Advisory, LLC (a preferred investment). Allstacks is a predictive forecasting and risk platform for software teams (CEO Hersh Tapadia, founded 2017, Raleigh NC). Latest round: Series A-1 (Jun 29, 2026) at $3.13/share, ~$64.0M post-money. Figures are from Carta (Aug 2026). Nothing is saved or sent.

Bottom line: you hold 87,046 shares (~0.43% fully diluted) at a total cost of $113,450. Marked today at ≈ $151K (common at $0.61 FMV, preferred at the $3.13 last round); as-converted at the current ~$64M post-money that stake is worth ≈ $273K (~2.4×). Upside scales with the exit.

Your two holdings

Mike Lambert (personal)

Security	Common (exercised NSO)
Shares	48,037
Strike	$0.28 (ES-22)
Cost basis	$13,450
Common FMV	$0.61

Granted Jan 2021, fully vested and exercised Oct 2021.

Lambert Advisory, LLC

Security	Series Seed-B2 Preferred
Shares	39,009
Ownership	0.19%
Cost basis	$99,999
Last round price	$3.13 (A-1)

Invested $100K via a SAFE (Dec 2021), converted to Seed-B2 preferred (Sep 2022, $2.56).

Combined

Total shares	87,046
Fully diluted	~0.43%
Total cost	$113,450
Marked today	≈ $151K
As-conv. @ $64M	≈ $273K

Company & round trajectory

Round	Date	Price / share	Post-money
Series A-1 Preferred	Jun 29, 2026	$3.13	$64.0M
Series A Preferred	Aug 7, 2024	$2.61	$50.0M
Series Seed-B Preferred	Dec 13, 2022	$2.48	$28.2M
Series Seed-B2 Preferred (yours)	Sep 15, 2022	$2.56	$28.6M
Series Seed Preferred	Mar 3, 2020	$1.80	$11.5M

Fully-diluted shares ≈ 20.46M (per the Series A-1 round). ~$24M raised to date sits ahead of common as a liquidation preference. Backers include Microsoft, S3 Ventures, Hyperplane, Companyon, and Quadri Ventures.

What you net at exit (interactive)

Exit assumptions

Exit valuation ($M)

Treatment

Your stake (fixed)

Total shares	87,046
Fully diluted	~0.426%
Total cost	$113,450
Pref stack ahead	~$24M

How to read it

As-converted values every share at the exit price (your ~0.426% × exit). Preference-adjusted is the conservative case: your common only shares value above the ~$24M preference stack, while your preferred is floored at its ~$100K cost. Real outcomes sit between.

Proceeds to you across exit valuations

Exit valuation	Proceeds to you	Multiple on $113K cost

Simplified model. Fully-diluted % and the ~$24M preference stack are approximations from the Carta financing history; a real waterfall depends on each class's seniority and participation. Source: Carta (Mike Lambert + Lambert Advisory, LLC profiles). Not tax or financial advice.

Stage 2 Capital — LP fund commitments (from Carta)

You are a limited partner in Stage 2 Capital (a go-to-market / sales-led growth VC) through Lambert Advisory, LLC, across two vehicles: the diversified Stage 2 Capital Fund II-A ($250K) and a single-company SPV, SPV QPA, that holds a SAFE in QuotaPath ($30K). $280,000 committed and fully called. Still early in the fund life: NAV is roughly your paid-in capital with only small distributions so far, and value is realized over the multi-year fund horizon as the portfolio matures. Figures are from Carta, as of each fund's reporting date. Nothing is saved or sent.

Bottom line: $280,000 paid in, $280,458 current NAV, $5,290 distributed to date (TVPI ≈ 1.02×, DPI ≈ 0.02×). Essentially at cost today; the return depends on how the fund's portfolio exits over the coming years.

Position

Committed / called

$280,000

100% called across both vehicles.

Current NAV

$280,458

Marked by the GP as of each fund's reporting date. TVPI ≈ 1.02×.

Distributed

$5,290

Cash back so far (DPI ≈ 0.02×). Early in the harvest.

The two vehicles

Fund	Commitment	Called	As of
Stage 2 Capital Fund II-A, L.P. — diversified fund	$250,000	$250,000	Mar 31, 2026
Stage 2 Capital SPV QPA, LP — QuotaPath SAFE	$30,000	$30,000	Dec 31, 2025
Total	$280,000	$280,000

Projected value (interactive) — each vehicle modeled separately

Fund II-A ($250K, diversified)

Net multiple (TVPI)

A diversified VC fund, typically underwritten to ~2.5–3× net over the fund life.

QuotaPath SPV ($30K SAFE)

Return on invested

A single-company SAFE, so binary: 0× if QuotaPath fails, potentially a large multiple on a strong exit.

Today

Paid in	$280,000
NAV	$280,458
Distributed	$5,290
TVPI	1.02×

Value to you at your settings

Position	Paid in	Multiple	Value	Gain

Illustrative. Fund II-A value = $250,000 × its net multiple; QuotaPath value = $30,000 × its return on invested (a binary single-company SAFE). Real outcomes depend on each portfolio and timing. Source: Carta (Lambert Advisory, LLC — Stage 2 Capital Fund II-A and SPV QPA / QuotaPath). Not investment advice.

Total to me — every bucket, one outcome-to-dollars view

The bottom-line question: which outcome pays you how much. This sums your OutSystems position (which you keep no matter what) with the equity from the career path you choose. Pick a path and slide the outcomes. Salary and bonus are not included: this is equity and liquidity only. Figures reuse the CoreStory (Carta) inputs from the Equity model tab and the SecFi OutSystems model. It also folds in your Allstacks and Stage 2 Capital holdings, which you can now dial here: Allstacks by exit valuation, Stage 2 by fund multiple. Nothing is saved or sent.

Your career bet

Path Career exit valuation ($M)

OutSystems outcome

Exit share price ($)

Held at a 30-month horizon; non-recourse floor applies. You keep this regardless of the career path.

Other holdings

Allstacks exit ($M)

Stage 2 fund multiple

Total to you as the career exit scales (at your chosen OutSystems price)

Career exit	Career equity (you)	+ OutSystems & other	= Total to you

Career equity uses your fully-diluted % and preference inputs from the Equity model tab (CoreStory 3.03% / $96M ahead of common). OutSystems net is the SecFi-model figure at your chosen price. Equity and liquidity only; excludes comp. Not tax or financial advice.

The buckets today

OutSystems

≈ $0.2M net

At the ~$4.3B mark (~$12.24/share) the shares (~$12.0M) sit below the ~$16.9M SecFi repayment, so net floors at ~$179K today. Non-recourse; upside resumes above ~$17/share.

CoreStory

Upside only

~$0 intrinsic today (behind ~$96M); the value is in the exit. 3.03% FD if you stay and vest.

Allstacks + Stage 2

dial it →

Allstacks (as-converted at your chosen exit) + Stage 2 ($280K paid-in × your chosen multiple). Set both in the Other holdings card above; defaults to ~$0.55M at the current round and 1×.

Retention — what it would actually take for staying to make financial sense

Context: I'm already on the CoreStory board as COO, at 3.03% FD (3.40% with the pending 200,000-share grant), against Anand's 17.51% as founder/CEO — see the Waterfall tab for the payout comparison at various exits. Since board seat and operating authority are already in hand, a title change ("co-founder" and/or "CEO") isn't the lever that matters here — the real question is whether any retention package is sized in actual equity terms to make staying compelling. This is a framework for thinking through that, not a prediction of what will be offered.

Framework

1. A title change alone doesn't move the cap table

"Co-founder" is a story, not a security — unless it comes with a new grant or accelerated vesting, ownership stays exactly where it is. I already have the board seat and the operating authority a "CEO" label would nominally signal; a relabel changes nothing about the equity math, so it isn't worth much on its own.

2. The only lever that matters: is the grant sized to matter

Closing the full gap to Anand's 17.5% isn't realistic (that's founder-level ownership built over years), but the honest test is simple: does the new grant, at CoreStory's real preference stack, move my expected payout enough to beat walking to Avantra or another seat? A grant into a 5–8% FD range would be a multiple of the current 3.03–3.40% position and would need explicit board/investor sign-off, and it runs into the ISO $100K/year limit and option-pool constraints (see Equity model / Waterfall tabs). Anything smaller is a gesture, not a retention offer.

3. The preference stack is the binding constraint regardless of grant size

At the $92.2M-plus preference stack against CoreStory's own last post-money, new equity is worth $0 below that line no matter how it's papered (see the Waterfall tab's exit-scenario table). A serious retention offer is really about (a) a grant large enough to matter if CoreStory re-rates well above the stack, or (b) something that pays off independent of the stack: cash comp, accelerated vesting, or a secondary sale opportunity. Anand's own payout curve on the Waterfall tab is the useful benchmark for what "founder-level" upside actually looks like at each exit size — that gap is the real number to negotiate against, not a title.

Framing note: treat this as a framework for the conversation if a retention offer comes up, not a prediction of what CoreStory will actually offer.