If I'd Only Known That: Common Mistakes in Equity Compensation and What to Do About Them

by Achaessa James

Overview

Donald Rumsfeld famously said of the Iraq war that "There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don't know we don't know." He got a lot of flack for that, but what he said makes a lot of sense. He should have added one more, however: the unknown knowns, the things we think we know that we really don't.

The equity compensation industry is highly regulated, with many pitfalls for the unwary. This book contains some humorous and painful examples of what happens when otherwise competent and responsible professionals don't know what they don't know and fail to get advice before taking actions that result in consequences that range from the merely awkward to the downright serious.

This book is not a comprehensive compendium of all the things you shouldn't do. That list could go on and on. But it does try to cover the most common kinds of problems that occur, presented in the form of brief case histories, each followed by lessons on what should have been done. The chapters cover the following subjects:

Plan Design and Modifications
Administration, Process, and Policy
Culture and Cultivation
Communication and Education
Technology
Tax and Law
Accounting and Valuation
Corporate Transactions

Product Details

BN ID:	2940012813428
Publisher:	National Center for Employee Ownership
Publication date:	06/30/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	269 KB

About the Author

Editor and coauthor Achaessa James, CEP, is a product manager at the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO), where she directs its broad-based equity compensation projects, writes on current regulatory and administrative issues, and advises NCEO members on equity compensation planning.

Achaessa has designed and delivered equity administration and corporate governance education programs to attorneys, paralegals, and accounting staff. As part of her staff functions at the NCEO, she works with companies on a preliminary basis to review legal, accounting, tax, and other issues relating to all forms of equity compensation, as well as matters concerning plan design, administrative setup, and training programs. She also maintains an active consulting practice outside the NCEO to provide longer-term administrative, audit, and corporate transaction support for private companies. She has worked in the venture capital and start-up community since 1999, supporting private stock placement transactions, IPO registrations, and administering nonpublic and microcap company equity compensation plans for companies such as Shop.com, Classmates.com, Jones Soda, and Telegent Systems.

Achaessa is a Certified Equity Professional through the CEP Institute at Santa Clara University's Leavey School of Business. Achaessa was the recipient of the 2007 Marilyn J. Perkins Claassen Memorial Scholarship and the 2010 Volunteer Excellence Award. She also is a board member of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals (NASPP).