by Robin Hartley | 18 Feb 2019 | best practice, capital structure, Uncategorized
The answer is easy – 10% to 20% of the company. The difficulty is understanding why and how to stick to that limit! Is this a legal requirement? No. The range of 10% to 20% is based on our extensive experience, of having advised over a thousand companies both on...
by Robin Hartley | 26 Nov 2018 | best practice
What’s the point of employee share options? Employees with shares perform better. That’s because they can see that if they generate more sales or save costs, there will be a direct impact on their own wealth. Employees and founders benefit when employees...
by Robin Hartley | 14 Nov 2018 | best practice, Technical tax and legal
October must have been a great month for seed investments in tech companies. I know this because I’m getting a lot of queries about how a zero* valuation can be compatible with fundraising. I briefly addressed this in a post back in June. I mentioned that...
by Robin Hartley | 12 Nov 2018 | best practice
An option is a right to buy shares in the future at a fixed price. That fixed price is often referred to as the ‘exercise price’ or the ‘strike price’. The reason an employee is motivated by holding an option, is that the bigger the difference...
by Robin Hartley | 30 Oct 2018 | best practice, news, vesting
A mention of patient capital in the 2018 Budget (1) made me reflect on how long term thinking is becoming more prevalent in management incentives and employee share schemes. The 2018 Budget announced a £20 billion plan and task force targeted at unlocking patient...
by Robin Hartley | 31 May 2018 | best practice
The point of an EMI scheme (or giving equity to employees in general) is not financial: it’s emotional. Specifically, it’s to change an employee’s emotional state to be more favourable to being recruited, retained and motivated. We’re always on the lookout for...
