Trading Brand For Equity

A model where employees at tech companies can pool their stock options with others to create a diversified portfolio, reducing individual risk while maintaining upside potential.

Key Points:

• Core Concept:

  • Employees can pool their stock options with other companies' options
  • Keep 40% of their original stock
  • Get 60% blend of other startup stocks they pick or index into

• Risk Rating System:

  • Create rating agency for stock options
  • Rate based on:
    • Price and valuation metrics
    • Community desirability of the options
    • Company risk profile

• Implementation Requirements:

  • Need financial contract/derivative product
  • System for assigning and trading shares
  • Consequences for backing out if company succeeds
  • Legal framework for pooling and exchanging options

• Benefits:

  • Reduces risk of being tied to just one company
  • Protects against bad CEOs or company failure
  • Gives access to desired companies' upside (like Stripe) without working there
  • Creates portfolio approach similar to venture capital investing

• Target Market:

  • Engineers
  • Designers
  • Tech company employees with stock options
  • Startup employees wanting to reduce single-company risk

The idea needs legal/financial structure to work but addresses the problem of tech employees being overly exposed to single company risk.