Pulley is the platform your employer uses to issue and manage their equity plan. This article will help you understand your securities, troubleshoot common issues, and find the right resources, so you can resolve most questions without needing to wait for a response.
For questions specific to your situation (e.g., your vesting schedule, the terms of your agreement, or payment instructions for an exercise) your company admin is the right contact. You can find them in the Portfolio tab of your Pulley portal under Company Resources. If no contact is listed, see There's no Company Contact listed in my portal below.
Pulley's team cannot provide legal, financial, or tax advice. Any guidance shared by Pulley, including software instructions or best practices, should be considered general information. We recommend consulting licensed professionals for advice specific to your situation.
Jump to your issue
I see a "No Valid FMV" banner and can't exercise
What you're seeing
"Contact company to enable Options exercise. [Company Name] does not have a valid FMV, therefore this option grant cannot currently be exercised. Contact your company administrator for questions."
What it means
Pulley requires a current Fair Market Value (FMV) (set through a 409A valuation) before it can calculate the cost and tax implications of your exercise. Your company's 409A valuation is either missing or has expired. This is not something you can resolve yourself; it requires action from your company administrator.
What to do
Check your portal for a Company Contact. This is found by navigating to Portfolio → Company Resources.
If a contact is listed, email them directly and explain that you're trying to exercise and are seeing the "no valid FMV" banner.
If no Company Contact is listed, email support@pulley.com with:
Your company name
The grant you're trying to exercise
A brief description of the banner you're seeing
We'll route your request to the right person on your company's admin team. Your admin will need to record or update their 409A valuation in Pulley before your exercise can proceed. Once uploaded, the banner will clear and you'll be able to continue.
If you have a deadline (for example, a 90-day post-termination exercise window): say so explicitly in your message. Post-termination exercise windows are time-sensitive and cannot be extended by Pulley. The sooner your admin is aware, the better.
There's no Company Contact listed in my portal
What it means
The Company Contact field is optional for admins to configure. If your company hasn't added one, the field won't appear in your portal.
What to do
Email support@pulley.com with your company name and a brief description of what you're trying to do. We'll identify the right admin contact and route your request appropriately.
What to include:
Your full name and the email address associated with your Pulley account
Your company name
A brief description of what you're trying to do (exercise options, locate a document, etc.)
I want to cancel my exercise request
Whether you can cancel depends on where your request is in the process:
Stage | Can you cancel? | How |
Submitted, not yet approved by admin | Yes | From the confirmation screen or your active exercise request in your portal, click Cancel Exercise Request |
Approved by admin, payment not yet processed | Maybe | Contact your company admin immediately — they may be able to reject the request on their end before payment clears |
Payment has processed | No | The exercise is complete. You have purchased the shares and own them. This cannot be reversed |
Once payment has processed, the exercise cannot be reversed. If you need to cancel after admin approval but before payment clears, contact your admin immediately.
Related: Exercise your options on Pulley
I completed my exercise, where's my 83(b) form?
After your exercise is approved and payment processes, Pulley automatically generates your 83(b) election form with your exercise details pre-filled.
Where to find it:
Click the Tasks icon in the top right of your Pulley portal and select Upload Form if prompted
Under Signed Agreements within your exercise request
In your Documents section
Filing the form: Pulley generates the form, but you must file your election directly with the IRS. You have two options:
File online via IRS.gov
File by mail: send via Certified Mail with Return Receipt requested to the IRS office where you file your taxes
Critical deadline: You must file your 83(b) election within 30 days of your exercise date. The 30-day clock starts when payment clears, not when you submit the request. Missing this deadline has permanent tax consequences and cannot be remedied after the fact.
Related: 83(b) Workflows and Step-by-Step Guide · 83(b) Election FAQ · Understanding 83(b) Elections
I don't see the "Exercise Options" button
There are a few reasons this button may not appear:
1. Your company hasn't enabled electronic exercises through Pulley.
Contact your company admin (listed at the bottom of your portal) to ask about exercise procedures. They may handle exercises offline or can enable the feature if it's available on their Pulley plan.
2. You may be outside your exercise window.
Former employees must be within their post-termination exercise timeframe to access the exercise function. If your window has closed, the button will no longer appear and unexercised options will have returned to the company's equity plan.
3. Your options may not yet be vested.
You can only exercise vested options unless your company allows early exercise. Check your vesting schedule in your portfolio to confirm what's available.
What to do:
Check your portfolio for your vesting schedule and any listed company contact and reach out to them directly for clarification
If you're a former employee and believe you're still within your window, contact support@pulley.com immediately with your company name and grant details
I'm a former employee. Do I still have time to exercise?
Standard post-termination exercise windows:
Option type | Typical window | Notes |
ISOs (Incentive Stock Options) | 90 days | IRS requirement to maintain ISO tax treatment. After 90 days, options lose ISO tax treatment if exercised and are taxed as NSOs |
NSOs (Non-Qualified Stock Options) | Set by your company | Often 90 days, but some companies offer extended windows (up to 10 years). Check your grant agreement |
The length of your exercise window is defined in your employee equity plan under "post termination exercise."
How to check your deadline
Log into your Pulley portal to view your grant details, or contact your former company's HR or equity admin.
If you're approaching your deadline
Act quickly. Pulley cannot extend your exercise window. Only your company can do that, and it requires a formal amendment. If you're within your window and hitting a blocker (like the FMV banner above), contact support@pulley.com immediately and explain the urgency.
What happens to unexercised options
Unexercised options after the last date to exercise return to the employee equity plan. They cannot be recovered after the window closes.
I can't log in or access my portal
Forgot your password
Go to pulley.com/user/recover to reset your password. The reset link will be sent to both your primary login email and your recovery email if you have one set up. For a full walkthrough, see How to use a recovery email address.
Lost access to two-factor authentication (2FA)
If you can no longer generate a 6-digit code for Pulley, you cannot reset 2FA yourself, this is intentional for security reasons. Contact support@pulley.com with your full name and account email. A support agent will verify your identity and reset your 2FA so you can re-enroll. See Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) as an Individual User for full details.
You log in but don't see your company or grants
This usually means one of the following:
You may be logging in with a different email address than the one your company used to set up your record. Check with your company's HR or equity admin to confirm which email they have on file
Your company may not have sent you a portal invitation yet. Ask your admin to send you an invite from the Stakeholders tab in their Pulley dashboard
If you've confirmed your email is correct and an invite has been sent, contact support@pulley.com with your company name and account email
You've never received an invitation email
Your company admin needs to send you an invite from their Pulley dashboard. Ask them to go to Stakeholders → Draft Invites, select your record, and click Invite Stakeholders. Check your spam folder if you don't see it after they've sent it.
Note: The login page at pulley.com/user/login is used by both admins and stakeholders. There is no separate stakeholder login URL.
My payment failed during exercise
If you selected ACH payment:
The most common causes of ACH payment failure are:
Insufficient funds in the linked bank account at the time of processing
An issue with the company's Stripe setup, if the company's bank account isn't fully connected on their end, funds can't be received even if your payment processed successfully
A connection issue between Pulley and Stripe that requires the payment to be retriggered
In some cases your payment may have processed on your end but failed to reach the company due to a configuration issue on their side. This is not something you can fix yourself.
What to do:
Check your bank account to confirm whether funds were debited
Contact your company admin and let them know the payment failed. They may need to check their Stripe setup or retrigger the payment on their end
If you can't reach your admin or the admin is having issues resolving the payment failure, email support@pulley.com with your company name, the date you submitted the exercise, and whether you selected ACH or manual payment
If you selected manual payment:
Manual payment exercises don't process automatically. Your company admin needs to mark the exercise as paid after receiving your funds outside of Pulley. If your request appears stuck, follow up with your admin directly to confirm they've received payment and marked it in the system.
If you have a time-sensitive deadline:
Say so when you contact support. Payment failures during a post-termination exercise window are urgent and will be escalated accordingly.
See Related: Exercise your options on Pulley
Common questions
Question | Answer | More information |
Where is my exercise price / strike price? | Log in → Portfolio tab → click your grant ID → the exercise price is listed on the grant detail page | |
My exercise request says "pending", what does that mean? | Pending means your admin hasn't approved it yet. Approval typically takes 1–5 business days | |
Where are my signed documents and grant agreements? | Log in → Portfolio tab → Documents section | — |
Can I see the full cap table or my ownership percentage? | No. Stakeholders can only see their own holdings. For cap table questions, contact your company admin | |
I want to sell my shares | Pulley manages equity records but doesn't facilitate share sales. Contact your company admin or a licensed broker | — |
I need to add a spouse, advisor, or trustee to my portal | Log in → Settings → Add Members. Enter their name and email and they'll receive an invitation | |
I have RSUs, not options, how do I find my information? | RSUs work differently from options: there's no exercise or strike price. Log in → Portfolio tab to see your grant, vesting schedule, and documents. RSUs are taxed when they settle (when you receive the shares), not when they vest |
Still need some help?
If none of the above resolved your issue, reach out to us directly at support@pulley.com.
When you write in, include:
Your full name and Pulley account email
Your company name
The grant or security you're asking about (if applicable)
A description of the issue you're encountering
The more context you provide, the faster we can route your request to the right team.