Why Giving Stock to Everyone Is Harder Than It Sound

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.

Support our Sponsor:

Metaview is the AI platform built for recruiting. Check it out: https://www.metaview.ai/heretics

* Our suite of AI agents work across your hiring process to save time, boost decision quality, and elevate the candidate experience.

* Learn why team builders at 3,000+ cutting-edge companies like Brex, Deel, and Quora can’t live without Metaview.

* It only takes minutes to get up and running.

KEEP UP WITH NOLAN + KELLI ON LINKEDIN

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

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

__

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

—

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

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hrheretics.substack.com