The Increasing Burden on Startups to Convince Good Candidates to Join - Q4 Newsletter - Stock Option Counsel, P.C.
Attorney Mary Russell counsels individuals on startup equity, including:
You are welcome to contact her at (650) 326-3412 or at info@stockoptioncounsel.com.
Happy New Year, Startup Community!
Here's our latest update from the world of startup equity on a new service from Stock Option Counsel and excerpts from a fascinating discussion at Hacker News on the increasing burden on startups to convince good candidates to join.
Tell Your Boss. We now offer on-site programs at later-stage startups to help employees and executives plan for future liquidity. Our CPA and financial planning partners present in groups or individual power sessions. This is a huge help to startup HR and finance executives who are restricted from providing individual advice to their employees and executives. Let them know this service is available so they can offer it as a benefit to you!
Startups' Increasing Burden in Hiring Top Talent. We counsel individuals on negotiating their startup job offers. We see on a daily basis that startups have to make meaningful and well-designed equity offers to recruit talent from big tech. Here's some excerpts from a fascinating conversation on this topic at Hacker News:
Waving a fraction of a percent in equity in front of candidates simply does not work anymore. … Coming into 2020, I think startups’ best bet is to [be] transparent and honest with candidates about all risks involved when joining a startup and factoring all this into the amount of equity they offer which should be something considerable. - Zain Amro, a software engineer based in Berkeley, California, from his blog
I believe [Zain's] post does a very good job of bringing the elephant in the room into the discussion. The current structure of equity compensation for early-stage startup companies is simply not enticing enough to get people to choose that over the salary and predictable path of BigTechCos. ... We should ... give more equity to early employees and have favorable terms around vesting for these employees and better timing around the loss of options after leaving a company. … Ensuring your early employees will be taken care of means they'll work harder for your company and this will increase the chance you'll survive long enough to see an event that makes anyone a return on their investment. - Grimm1 at Hacker News
This is easy. Offer relatively competitive TC with a real potential upside to the equity package and a work environment that's attractive. BigCorp is mired in politics and decision-making that's grounded in risk mitigation. Do something legitimately interesting and folks will come. Give them some agency and the ability to really get things done and they'll stay. - halbritt at Hacker News
What’s a more democratic funding model to spread net innovation? - bhl at Hacker News
There are already 372 comments in the discussion. I hope it grows in 2020!
Stock Option Counsel, P.C. - Legal Services for Individuals. Thank you for all your enthusiasm for my practice and for the Stock Option Counsel Blog. It's been another great year. I will continue to send quarterly updates on important topics in the market for startup equity for individual founders, executives and employees. Please keep in touch and have a very happy 2020!
Best,
Mary
Mary Russell | Attorney and Founder
Stock Option Counsel, P.C. | Legal Services for Individuals
(650) 326-3412 | mary@stockoptioncounsel.com
Attorney Mary Russell counsels individuals on startup equity, including:
You are welcome to contact her at (650) 326-3412 or at info@stockoptioncounsel.com.
Repurchase Rights are "Horrible" for Employees
Attorney Mary Russell counsels individuals on startup equity, including:
You are welcome to contact her at (650) 326-3412 or at info@stockoptioncounsel.com.
“As an aside, some companies now write in a repurchase right on vested shares at the current common price when an employee leaves. It’s fine if the company wants to offer to repurchase the shares, but it’s horrible for the company to be able to demand this.”
What can you do about it? Ask before you join:
“Can the company take back my vested shares?”
For more from Sam Altman, see his post, Employee Equity. For more on repurchase rights on vested shares, see Clawbacks for Startup Stock - Can I Keep What I think I Own? For more on questions to ask to make sure you have true startup equity, see our post, Startup Equity Standards - A Guide for Employees.
Attorney Mary Russell counsels individuals on startup equity, including:
You are welcome to contact her at (650) 326-3412 or at info@stockoptioncounsel.com.