Intermediate equity
ESOP - Employee Stock Option Pool
An ESOP is a reserved pool of equity set aside to grant stock options to employees, advisors, and early hires as non-cash compensation.
#hiring
10 results
Glossary
Intermediate team
Performance Improvement Plan (PIP)
A PIP is a formal document that outlines an employee's performance gaps and sets a time-bound plan to correct them before termination.
Beginner equity
Stock Options
Stock options give employees the right to buy company shares at a fixed strike price. ISOs and NSOs are the two main types used by startups.
Guides
Intermediate team
10 min How to Build a Compensation Framework
Learn how to create a fair, transparent compensation framework that helps you hire, retain, and build trust across your startup team.
Intermediate team
14 min How to Make Your First 5 Hires
A practical guide to hiring your first employees - how to define the roles, run the process, set comp, and avoid the mistakes that derail early teams.
Intermediate equity
12 min How to Negotiate an Equity Offer at a Startup
Understand every component of a startup equity offer - and learn exactly what to negotiate, what to ask, and how to evaluate your upside.
Intermediate team
10 min How to Build a Hiring Process
A step-by-step guide to building a repeatable, structured hiring process—from job spec to signed offer—that reduces bias and bad hires.
Articles
Intermediate equity
9 min Equity for Early Employees Explained
How to structure stock option grants for early hires - covering grant sizes, vesting, strike prices, and how to communicate equity fairly.
Intermediate team
13 min How to Build and Run a Remote Startup Team
Remote is the default for software startups in 2025. Here's how to build culture, hire globally, and run operations across time zones.
Beginner team
12 min How Startup Culture Gets Built
Culture isn't ping-pong tables - it's what behaviors get rewarded and punished. Here's how founders actually build it.