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Subject:Re: tech wtr pre-ipo stock options II From:"Jane Sorensen" <judydh -at- total -dot- net> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 20 Mar 2000 10:01:14 -0500
I'm sorry I don't have any direct response for Frank's question, but I do have a counter for someone else's response:
| In my experience, a good basis for comparison is salary. If a techwriter
| makes 80% of a programmer's salary, he/she should get 80% of the shares.
Disagree, disagree, disagree. If each employee is necessary for a business to operate successfully, whether or not they are deemed
as producers (developers) or necessary expenses (tech writers and secretaries, ha ha--eeughh), that is it--they're necessary. It is
just perverse to offer more shares in the success of a company to the people who already make most of the money and/or make all of
the decisions. When it comes down to it, the only people who are making any financial risks in a pre-IPO company are the owners--so
this is where the greatest financial gain from an IPO should be aimed.
One should make their best effor to charge or get the price that the market will bear for a job. Developers are in demand, they can
capitalize on this rule very well. The effects of compounding salaries with raises is enough to favour developers once they're in an
organization. Stock options are something entirely different. It's an area where I believe a company can afford to make an effort to
be democratic and enlightened in how they treat their employees.
Also, stock options are a gamble, a leveraging game, and should not be considered as an attractive reason to sign on the dotted line
for less money than the market would bear. Many times, the salary and its compounding effect wins out over the period that it takes
the options to vest.
