We ran generous equity incentive programs. They were not broad based.
Multiple exits later, I more than understand the difference.
A narrow plan rewards the people already in the room. A broad based plan changes who is in the room.
That distinction is now foundational to how we build at Centered Partners and Greenleaf Capital Partners, LLC. Not a benefit we bolt on at the end. A structure we now start with.
It was also a big part of what drew me to Ascend Safety Collective.
Ownership Works keeps making the case better than I can. At Ingersoll Rand, Vicente Reynal connects more than 8x enterprise value growth since 2017 to extending real equity across a 21,000 person workforce. Worth reading the op-ed in full.
Financial sponsors have always handed meaningful equity to a management team. That part was never controversial. The whole insight behind Ownership Works is asking why stop there.
For years, I did not have a good answer either.
The question is not how much you share. It is how far.