Its an interesting concept. But to be viable you really need a 'job lifetime' that is measured in months rather than years. If you work somewhere for 5 years what is the value add? And given that the typical ISO vesting period is 4 years ...
The stock model might be an interesting compromise. So represent me and I grant you x% of my ISO on a per-annum basis. So lets say you agree to a 10% take, and I go to startup X and get 100,000 share option. (vesting at 25,000 shares a year) so on my anniversary date I exercise and transfer to you 2,500 shares in the startup I'm working at. Could be hugely profitable, and a waste of time, but the risk is shared. Can't eat shares though, so there has to be a model for some cash.
What I like here though is exploring other models.
Author here - never even thought about the stock possibilities. Was thinking more about annual fee for access (career advice, inside info, moving within companies, negotiating raises or promotions, etc.) and perhaps some search fee. As I've written in other comments here, the difference is that the agent represents you and not the company (since you pay the bill) - it's a big difference and the agent will give you more honest opinions that are not at all clouded by fees. I was hoping some dialogue would come out of this.
Comments
Its an interesting concept. But to be viable you really need a 'job lifetime' that is measured in months rather than years. If you work somewhere for 5 years what is the value add? And given that the typical ISO vesting period is 4 years ...
The stock model might be an interesting compromise. So represent me and I grant you x% of my ISO on a per-annum basis. So lets say you agree to a 10% take, and I go to startup X and get 100,000 share option. (vesting at 25,000 shares a year) so on my anniversary date I exercise and transfer to you 2,500 shares in the startup I'm working at. Could be hugely profitable, and a waste of time, but the risk is shared. Can't eat shares though, so there has to be a model for some cash.
What I like here though is exploring other models.
Author here - never even thought about the stock possibilities. Was thinking more about annual fee for access (career advice, inside info, moving within companies, negotiating raises or promotions, etc.) and perhaps some search fee. As I've written in other comments here, the difference is that the agent represents you and not the company (since you pay the bill) - it's a big difference and the agent will give you more honest opinions that are not at all clouded by fees. I was hoping some dialogue would come out of this.
Ok, but don't pre-IPO stock contracts usually prevent sales of stocks outside the company?
True. Could be negotiated with company during the process perhaps. I know recruiters who have been given stock in lieu of fee by firms.