This is my first non-equity focused article in a few months but a high school graduate inspired me to change direction this week. The video below shows the valedictorian speech at the high school graduation of a friend’s kid. It’s five minutes well spent, but here’s s snippet if you are in a hurry. “No matter how many...
This is not the article I intended to post today. I had something else ready to go, but realized this was more important. I am sitting in my hotel room in San Diego, California getting ready to head over for the second day of the annual WorldatWork Total Rewards Conference. Total Rewards is a BIG...
This February, the Harvard Business Review published Stop Paying Executives for Performance” by Dan Cable and Freek Vermeulen. The basis of the article is that we do away with all executive incentive pay and replace it with high (in cases much higher) salary. Their argument is that there is no evidence that pay for performance...
On May 7, 2016, it was reported that a giant chrome panda predicted the imminent crippling of stock options in the Silicon Valley. Dropbox has been a star of the unicorn sector. But, in October of 2015 and again in April of 2016, their value was written down by major mutual funds, including Fidelity. With...
Let me start this by saying that there is little new in this post. If you have been a senior compensation professional during a market downturn, this should sound familiar. If you have not had this exciting and seldom pleasant experience, buckle up and let’s go! The main selling point of equity compensation is that...
Question (Orig. on Quora): Let say I’ve received 1% over 4 years. At the end of the second year we get acquired. Now I have 0.5% in my hands. What’s happens next, assuming I continue working at the acquiring company? Do I still get stock options of the ‘old’ company for the next two year?...
Have you ever played a card game with 5-year olds? Before you start, they explain the game in vague details and provide a list of rules that are customized to their needs. Then you begin playing, doing your best to remember the rules and keep the game moving and fun for everyone. STOP! The game...
At the narrow end of an IPO spike where the stock market slows and the stock options lose value and the investors say no and RSU vesting periods continue to grow… is the street of the equity Lorax. And deep in this narrow place, some entrepreneurs say, if you look deep enough you can still...
In this sixth installment of my “Stock Options on the Precipice” series (other articles: 1, 2,3, 4, 5), I will cover some common concerns employees have about equity compensation. The term “employee-friendly” equity compensation has become popular over the past couple of years. What does this mean and do the people using the term actually...
Question: (org. on Quora) Answer (by Dan Walter) Hi Alex. Thanks for the A2a. And thanks to Shriram Bhashyam for also recommending me. The first thing to clarify is the difference between “best practices” and most common practices. In the realm of equity compensation the most common practices are seldom the best. I will try and...
