But professional investors value companies as a full-time job and still get it wrong a lot of the time. My full-time job is writing computer programs, not inves

But professional investors value companies as a full-time job and still get it wrong a lot of the time. My full-time job is writing computer programs, not investment banking or venture capital. So even if I have access to this information, how can I know what to make of it? I don't know what's important, which little number might be the secret sauce or the torpedo in the engine room. And any company will choose and frame those metrics that make its future look brightest. I think this is a fundamental problem with equity as a form of compensation. As the article points out, I can only invest in one job at a time. Even if it's a good job, how do I know what the future will bring in terms of option value? As for making me feel like an owner, an oft-cited benefit of equity, I think that's a social phenomenon and not something you can conjure up with a piece of paped. Just as putting a ping pong table in the office doesn't guarantee a laid-back culture, issuing RSUs doesn't guarantee that each employee will feel like an integral part of the mission rather than a cog in the wheel. Both come from the relationships you build up as you go along.