On today’s Dear Heretics segment, Nolan and Kelli debate equity compensation philosophy: whether companies should extend stock options to all employees or reserve them for senior roles, weighing moral imperatives against investor dilution concerns and implementation complexity.

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KEEP UP WITH NOLAN + KELLI ON LINKEDIN

Nolan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nolan-church/

Kelli: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellidragovich/

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For coaching and advising inquire at https://kellidragovich.com/

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00 ) Intro

(01:07 ) Question about stock options for all employees

(01:48 ) Carta’s philosophy on making everyone an owner

(03:32 ) Moral case for giving equity to everyone

(05:07 ) Story about Carta’s employee refresh and Fred Wilson

(06:21 ) Challenge of educating employees on equity

(08:28 ) Pendo’s approach to equity education and round tables

(09:19 ) Setting expectations with $0 default value

(10:08 ) Sponsor - Metaview

(11:29 ) Cost of labor adjustments for equity across locations

(13:00 ) Administrative challenges of geo-based equity adjustments

(14:16 ) Employee communication and comparison issues

(16:10 ) Board tension over equity dilution decisions

(17:28 ) Attracting great talent requires competitive compensation

(18:06 ) Moral case and taxes of giving equity

(19:00 ) Importance of working with equity experts

(19:46 ) Closing thoughts on geo strategy and communication

(21:34 ) Wrap

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