Think carefully about who influences and controls the IPO: the venture capitalists, the stock market, your company's owners, some investment bankers, the stock market, and the stock market. Do you have any control over the likelihood of getting rich from stock options? Or, are you a pawn in the process?

Then think about who influences and controls your own value. You. Will you place your bet on a company, or on yourself?

While you're waiting for your employer's future value to materialize, your own current value may be stagnating. While you're waiting for that IPO to happen, you may be passing up great opportunities to broaden your experience and to build valuable new skills.

If your company has put the IPO handcuffs on you, ask yourself some questions. First consider the impact on your financial worth. How likely are you to really get rich if you stay? And, how long is it really going to take?

Then consider the impact on your inherent worth. Will your personal value as a worker increase more if you stay, or if you accept a new challenge at another company? What kind of control do you have in this case?

If you leave a pre-IPO company, you may leave money on the table. But if you stick around too long for the wrong reasons, your career may rot in the "IPO jail".

Take off the stock option handcuffs. Know why you're staying in a job. Your best options are the ones you control yourself.