{"id":278666,"date":"2025-02-28T07:15:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T15:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jthelander.com\/?p=278666"},"modified":"2025-02-28T07:15:00","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T15:15:00","slug":"what-does-your-equity-really-mean-for-your-private-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brightturn.io\/?p=278666","title":{"rendered":"What Does Your Equity Really Mean for Your Private Company?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ensuring the right equity distribution in privately held companies is key. Access to real-time, quality&nbsp;market data helps accurately benchmark and determine competitive equity allocations for your team in relation to cash compensation. Equity, typically vested over four years with a one year cliff, is THE long-term incentive exclusive to private companies. It not only drives potential wealth creation but also aligns the team with investor interests, crucial for sustained success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As your company evolves, particularly with ongoing capital raises, the balance between cash and equity compensation will change. Understanding these dynamics is essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jenn Fang, Partner at Wilson Sonsini, elaborates on the types of equity awards common in private companies, how they vary across industries, and change with company growth stages in this&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=59oolPMu6r8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">excerpt<\/a>&nbsp;from the latest private company compensation panel webinar. The full recording is on our platform, accessible through&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/survey.jthelander.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">survey participation<\/a>&nbsp;or a paid subscription.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image img-border\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/99de59cb-deb2-7166-0779-779659e81d4e.png\" alt=\"What types of awards do you currently grant?\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image img-border\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/277e3186-a8cd-970e-48fe-95a4062047f0.png\" alt=\"What types of awards do you currently grant? By Industry\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chart 1 &amp; 2<\/strong>&nbsp;look at what types of awards are being granted.&nbsp;We see the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bullet-swirl.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bullet-swirl.png\" alt=\"bullet\" class=\"wp-image-278614\" style=\"width:28px;height:auto\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Incentive Stock Options:<\/strong>&nbsp;Most popular form of equity awards granted across all industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bullet-swirl.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bullet-swirl.png\" alt=\"bullet\" class=\"wp-image-278614\" style=\"width:28px;height:auto\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Restricted Stock Units:<\/strong>&nbsp;Favored by tech companies over biotech or medical device companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image img-border\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/678f8a67-2baa-406c-8c4e-987d2cfd0486.png\" alt=\"What types of awards do you currently grant? By Financing\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image img-border\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ea1b23a7-3c6a-d358-7820-d2f4b3579166.png\" alt=\"What types of awards do you currently grant? YoY\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chart 3&nbsp;&amp; 4<\/strong>&nbsp;look at what types of awards are being granted by financing and YoY. We see the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bullet-swirl.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bullet-swirl.png\" alt=\"bullet\" class=\"wp-image-278614\" style=\"width:28px;height:auto\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Restricted Stock Awards:&nbsp;<\/strong>Most popular among companies that have raised less than $15 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bullet-swirl.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bullet-swirl.png\" alt=\"bullet\" class=\"wp-image-278614\" style=\"width:28px;height:auto\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Incentive Stock Options:<\/strong>&nbsp;Become the preferred choice after the $15 million fundraising mark, remaining popular up to $90 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What\u2019s the bottom line?&nbsp;<\/strong>Understanding the specifics of your equity\u2014how much you own and how its owned\u2014is crucial. We recommend benchmarking&nbsp;equity based on the percentage of fully diluted shares rather than the absolute number of shares to gain an accurate picture of what you own. Additionally, the type of equity award you hold can significantly influence your tax implications, as different awards are subject to varying tax treatments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"btn-post wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/survey.jthelander.com\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/survey.jthelander.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Participate in the Thelander Private Company Compensation Survey For Cash \/ Equity Data<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Thelander Digest is powered by the Thelander Private Company Compensation dataset. To trial our platform and see the depth and breadth of Thelander data for yourself &#8211; participate in our surveys&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/survey.jthelander.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.&nbsp;Why participate?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bullet-swirl.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bullet-swirl.png\" alt=\"bullet\" class=\"wp-image-278614\" style=\"width:28px;height:auto\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is no cost to participate and when you complete your survey response, you secure FREE access to real-time comp data for the next 12 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bullet-swirl.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bullet-swirl.png\" alt=\"bullet\" class=\"wp-image-278614\" style=\"width:28px;height:auto\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thelander data is specific to the unique needs of private companies &#8211; no public company comp included.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bullet-swirl.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bullet-swirl.png\" alt=\"bullet\" class=\"wp-image-278614\" style=\"width:28px;height:auto\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We cover all your compensation needs from non-investor board comp, option pool, salary increases, change of control, severance&nbsp;and more.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bullet-swirl.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/jthelander.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bullet-swirl.png\" alt=\"bullet\" class=\"wp-image-278614\" style=\"width:28px;height:auto\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We have customizable job architectures for your staff-level employees that can also include job matching.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ensuring the right equity distribution in privately held companies is key. Access to real-time, quality&nbsp;market data helps accurately benchmark and determine competitive equity allocations for your team in relation to cash compensation. Equity, typically vested over four years with a one year cliff, is THE long-term incentive exclusive to private companies. It not only drives [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3,4],"class_list":["post-278666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsletter","tag-newsletter","tag-private-company"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brightturn.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brightturn.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brightturn.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brightturn.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brightturn.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=278666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/brightturn.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278666\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brightturn.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=278666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brightturn.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=278666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brightturn.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=278666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}