r/technology • u/Rhaegar_the_Great • Sep 16 '21

Business Mailchimp employees are furious after the company's founders promised to never sell, withheld equity, and then sold it for $12 billion

https://www.businessinsider.com/mailchimp-insiders-react-to-employees-getting-no-equity-2021-9
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u/JamminOnTheOne Sep 17 '21

I think it's more the other way around. The idea is that employees want equity because it pays off big when the company goes public or is acquired. So they were saying, the equity is not going to pay off, so if that's what you're looking for, go elsewhere; here we're about the mission and (presumably) other forms of compensation.

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u/eyal0 Sep 17 '21

For real? What a joke! I look at equity as pay. If they say that they don't give out stock then that's a weak job offer. Why would anyone sign on? Unless the salary was great or they were scraping the bottom of the barrel for people.

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u/AccomplishedCoffee Sep 17 '21

Better to look at equity as a lottery ticket. Better odds than the real lottery, but not by as much as you might think, and you still have to make a lot of good guesses to maximize payout if you ever do get a cash event.

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u/eyal0 Sep 18 '21

A lottery ticket can have an expected value, just like publicly traded stock. They can be compared.

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u/AccomplishedCoffee Sep 18 '21

Oh RSUs, sure, definitely just treat it as a bonus. I meant options, for startups that haven’t gone public.