Using Stock To Motivate People

Stock-options seem almost a default part of the compensation package in computing start-ups these days. However, it’s not clear that the rich pickings will return following the dot-com crash, so is a 1% or 0.5% chunk of the company any more than a nice bonus?

HBS Working Knowledge: The Leadership Workshop: Is Equity-Based Compensation a Good Thing? discusses the pros and cons of offering stock in order to motivate employees , and it’s something that Joel Spolsky pondered whilst deciding upon his company’s compensation policy.

Thank God I’ve got a while yet before I have to start worrying about such things.