2 ms·

I'm not sure we're actually disagreeing. OfferLetter.io works precisely because you're focused on the negotiation part. There, your incentives are aligned (it's

by leeny 12y ago

I'm not sure we're actually disagreeing. OfferLetter.io works precisely because you're focused on the negotiation part. There, your incentives are aligned (it's always in your interest and the candidate's to get them more money). And there, it makes sense to pay you because you're only paying if you do end up with a higher cash salary. If you were to branch out into helping people find jobs, I don't think it would work. All of a sudden, you'd always be incentivized to find people cash-rich, equity-poor positions, largely limiting the pool. Money is important, but at the end of the day, it's just one of many factors. It just happens to be the most easily quantifiable one. Moreover, if we ignore this disincentive for a moment, if you were to branch out into end-to-end job search (rather than just the negotiation part), you'd quickly become frustrated because for a lot more effort, i.e. everything before the negotiation, you'd be getting much less money than you would if you just struck a deal with the company side o the market instead.

mallyvai 12y ago
If we're talking about incentive alignment being the primary driver, I personally don't believe it's impossible to justify taking an equity cut, if possible and reasonable (10-20%), with the mutual understanding that the outcome is going to be much better if we help with the beginning of the process. Building a reputation for being really awesome would be challenging - people would want to know that it's worth the fee. Two other big blockers: 1) Multiple levels of taxation 2) Startups will be wary of having random third parties on their cap table There's probably other stuff too. But I don't think it's impossible, just very hard. There are other ethical concerns from this side as well - hollywood talent agents don't always have the best persona. It's part of why we're avoiding the "Agent" moniker at http://offerletter.io http://offerletter.io and branding ourselves as Advisors instead. This is a long ways off, of course - there's a lot of work to be done even in at the narrow step of the funnel we're targeting right now.
- terramars 12y ago
  re: #2, that's why god invented derivatives. contrary to popular belief, you CAN write derivatives on your private stock options - the derivatives will just also be worth nothing if the engineer leaves early / company folds / etc. and they will be a tax nightmare even if you take early exercise and handle everything correctly. i'd LOVE to see someone pull this off successfully though.
  - mallyvai 12y ago
    This is a great point. If you have more detail or insight about how we might go about this (or precedent around it) , definitely let me know!

by leeny 12y ago

mallyvai 12y ago

If we're talking about incentive alignment being the primary driver, I personally don't believe it's impossible to justify taking an equity cut, if possible and reasonable (10-20%), with the mutual understanding that the outcome is going to be much better if we help with the beginning of the process. Building a reputation for being really awesome would be challenging - people would want to know that it's worth the fee. Two other big blockers: 1) Multiple levels of taxation 2) Startups will be wary of having random third parties on their cap table There's probably other stuff too. But I don't think it's impossible, just very hard. There are other ethical concerns from this side as well - hollywood talent agents don't always have the best persona. It's part of why we're avoiding the "Agent" moniker at http://offerletter.io http://offerletter.io and branding ourselves as Advisors instead. This is a long ways off, of course - there's a lot of work to be done even in at the narrow step of the funnel we're targeting right now.

terramars 12y ago
re: #2, that's why god invented derivatives. contrary to popular belief, you CAN write derivatives on your private stock options - the derivatives will just also be worth nothing if the engineer leaves early / company folds / etc. and they will be a tax nightmare even if you take early exercise and handle everything correctly. i'd LOVE to see someone pull this off successfully though.
- mallyvai 12y ago
  This is a great point. If you have more detail or insight about how we might go about this (or precedent around it) , definitely let me know!