employee-equity
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Dave Thornton
Dave Thornton is the co-founder, CEO, and chief investment officer of Vested, a Miami-based fintech that funds startup employees to exercise their stock options before the 90-day post-departure window erases them. A serial entrepreneur who studied computer science, economics, and law, Thornton built Vested around a simple, painful truth he saw firsthand: roughly half of all employee stock options go abandoned, leaving an estimated $600 billion of value unclaimed. His pitch is to turn venture capital into something closer to an index fund - broad, diversified exposure to hundreds of startups - while giving everyday employees the cash and the clarity to actually keep the equity they earned.
Jordan Long
Jordan Long is the CMO and General Partner at ESO Fund, a San Mateo-based fintech firm that provides non-recourse funding to startup employees seeking to exercise stock options or unlock liquidity from private shares. A Bay Area native with a background in data analytics and mathematical economics from Wake Forest University, Jordan joined ESO Fund in 2018 and has built its marketing engine from the ground up, growing the fund through five vehicles and over $200 million in capital. He co-authors the firm's newsletter 'ESO's Monthly Start-Up' and serves as press contact, blending analytical rigor with editorial instinct in a niche that sits at the intersection of venture capital, tax planning, and employee financial wellness.