But first, what does this all mean?
Exercise means the process of converting a vested option into an ordinary share. An option can be exercised when the option has vested, and the Exercise Price is paid.
Exercise Price means the amount to be paid by the employee to Exercise the option.
Exercise Period means the period in which an employee can exercise the options. Often, an employee won’t exercise options straight after vesting, and will wait to exercise them later on.
N.B. Options can only be exercised in Cake by a user with Edit or Admin access to the company account on Cake. The employee cannot process the exercise event from their end.
Method 1:
Click 'Captable' from the main menu and then 'Options holders'.
Click More in the top right hand corner, and then Exercise Options from the drop down menu of this page
Search for the relevant Optionholder
Select the relevant pool and offer
Some of the exercise details will be automatically populated for you. Enter the Date of Exercise and the Number of Options being exercised.
Click 'Exercise'.
Method 2:
Click 'Equity Plans' from the main menu and then 'Options'.
Click 'View pool'
Find the option holder from the 'Offer List' whose options you would like to exercise. Click on the money bag icon on the right hand side of their name.
Some of the exercise details will be automatically populated for you. Enter the Date of Exercise and the Number of Options being exercised.
Click 'Exercise'.
Regardless of which method you choose, once you have exercised your employee's options, they will automatically be issued with shares and you will see them listed in the share registry. Head to Captable --> Shareholders to check it out!
Next step: Issue a Share Certificate 😊