How to Optimize Your Figma RSU Exit Strategy During Lockup and Beyond

Tara Shulman is a Principal Wealth Advisor at Compound. She has extensive experience guiding clients through IPOs, including Figma, Anthropic, Coinbase, and numerous other tech company liquidity events.

If you’re a Figma employee or anticipating a similar exit event, you may hold one equity compensation type or a combination of RSUs, ISOs, and NSOs in your equity package. This manual covers RSUs. Click here for our manuals on ISOs and here for our manual on NSOs.

If you have RSUs, you probably have a lot of questions. 

Right now, Figma employees are at the front of that Q&A line, looking for insights as they consider withholding rates, selling timing, and diversification strategies during both the lockup period (typically a 90- to 180-day period following the July 2025 IPO) and subsequent trading windows. 

If you’re an RSU holder, you need to understand that vesting is the same thing as receiving a cash bonus and choosing to reinvest all of it in Figma stock. That’s a decision that you should make based on tax optimization, diversification needs, and your personal financial goals (not market reactions).

Our step-by-step evaluation framework can help Figma employees — and others with similar equity packages — think through their options and timing.

The RSU Tax Trap That Catches Employees Off-Guard

A lot of the time, employees have trouble understanding the tax implications of vesting. When RSUs vest, there’s immediately an income tax liability — and if they make any mistakes with their withholding, cash flow issues can pop up.

A reminder: When the stock vests, that’s considered an ordinary income event. Basically, it’s like you’re getting paid a cash bonus, and then turning around and reinvesting 100% of that cash bonus into stock. 

The question to ask yourself is: If you got a paycheck for that exact amount today, would you put all of it into one single stock?

Don’t miss the opportunity to diversify immediately after vesting if you’d like to, and try to avoid making emotional decisions during the post-IPO period. RSU holders are making an active investment choice at every vesting event without realizing it — so it’s important to take charge.

Putting Strategic Withholding and Systematic Diversification First

The key to preparing for an event is focusing on tax optimization and systematic diversification instead of trying to time the perfect selling price.

During vesting, you can work with an advisor to optimize your withholding strategy and build out systematic selling schedules, which should prioritize after-tax outcomes and portfolio diversification. 

That lets you make decisions in a way that’s not extreme or conservative. Maximum withholding is lower-risk, and less upside; minimum withholding is higher-risk, more upside. 

By sitting in the middle and creating a structured approach, you can find the middle ground for your own risk tolerance and liquidity needs. 

Creating Your Exit Strategy

Step 1: Optimize Your RSU Withholding 

During the lockup period, typically between October 2025 and January 2026 for most Figma employees, RSU holders need to see if the withholding that was applied (shares were sold and withheld via W2) is accurate. If not, a plan to address withholding should be created.

Because RSUs are taxed as ordinary income at vesting, your withholding decision directly impacts how many shares you retain for potential appreciation versus how much cash you'll owe at tax time.

37% is the maximum federal rate for withholding. Some people choose the 22% federal withholding rate, so they can say “I know I'm under-withholding on the RSU vest, but that means that I get to hold more shares for the long term." 

Personal preference plays a huge part. Evaluate your withholding options based on your overall tax situation, liquidity needs, and risk tolerance. Lower withholding (like 22%) is riskier — it means you’re holding more shares, but face more risk if Figma's stock declines before you can sell to cover any additional tax costs.

QSBS Eligibility Considerations: RSUs themselves don't usually qualify for QSBS treatment, but you may hold other equity that does qualify. For Figma, any stock acquired (through option exercise or direct purchase) before mid-2019 may qualify for up to $10 million in tax-free gains.

Step 2: Calculate Tax Liability and Liquidity Requirements

Your withholding choice determines both how much cash you need and how much risk you’re exposed to, which directly impacts your liquidity planning and selling strategy. Your advisor can help you understand your cash obligations so you’re not caught with a tax bill you can’t afford. 

Using your withholding rate choice, calculate the exact dollar amounts you'll need for federal, state, and local taxes on your vested RSUs. Remember to factor in how RSU income might push you into higher tax brackets. 

Consider every scenario — after all, what if the stock falls in value, and then you have to sell stock that's worth less money to satisfy a tax liability at a different price? This is where modeling RSU scenarios in Compound can help you visualize potential outcomes.  

Step 3: Model RSU Scenarios Visually

Modeling is extremely important, because you might make very different decisions when you can actually see what your outcomes look like. It’s all about understanding what’s possible, and getting yourself in the right headspace to make a game plan you feel confident in. 

Taking your tax liability calculations from Step 2, you can visualize what happens to your overall financial picture under great, neutral, and bad scenarios.

Compound’s equity simulator tool can be really powerful for visualization. A complex conversation around taxes and various strategies can feel intangible at first. However, a side-to-side view of “This is what could happen if everything goes well, and this is if things don’t go according to plan,” can help ground your decision. It begs you to answer the question: Are you able and willing to sustain this downside scenario?” 

Once you know what you’re comfortable with, you can make a plan that incorporates how you’d feel in each scenario, the risk you’re comfortable with, and potential volatility. 

Prior to modelling different scenarios, it can be easy to get lost in the excitement and hope for only upside. Once you're able to really see a negative potential outcome, it does shift your thinking.   

With the Equity Simulator, you can play out a:

• Bullish Scenario: See how lower withholding rates allow more participation in stock appreciation
• Bearish Scenario: Visualize the cash crunch that occurs when you need to sell depreciated shares to cover tax obligations from higher vesting values
• Neutral Scenario: Show the diversification benefits of systematic selling regardless of stock performance

The simulator also includes IPO volatility patterns that detail the typical behavior in the first 90 or more days post-IPO, so you know that big price swings are normal and shouldn't drive any decisions.

Step 4: Create Your RSU Selling Schedule

During trading windows, you should try to keep your emotions out of the way. A great way to do that is to establish predetermined selling triggers that optimize for diversification and tax efficiency.

In Compound’s equity simulator tool, it will show each individual grant or lot of shares — this helps you create a selling schedule, where you can say, “I’ll sell X amount on such-and-such price on this date.” Etch out rules for regular rebalancing during quarterly trading windows, too. 

Since RSUs are already taxed at vesting (unlike options), your selling decisions should focus on portfolio optimization, not tax timing.

Systematic Decision-Making That Reduces Tax Surprises and Emotional Stress

When you have a structured approach, you can see better tax outcomes and less stress when IPO periods get volatile.

Preparing for volatility before the stock is live and the price is trading — or before you even have the ability to sell it — will make you feel more mentally prepared going in.

Just keep reminding yourself that the right choice for you isn't always about timing the market — it’s about optimal capital allocation. And planning ahead will help you make decisions faster once your trading windows open, while knowing you’re being strategic. 

Connect with a member of Compound’s advisory team to chat more about your options and try out the Equity Simulator Tool.