I've been through several acquisitions and a few IPOs. If the company is acquired, you should contact the CEO and the CFO to ask the price per share at which the company was acquired. If you have vested options, they should send you a letter letting you know whether your options are "in the mon...
One of the easiest way is to reach out to MVP's and get connections from them on who use Microsoft Stack. http://mvp.microsoft.com/en-US/default.aspx