Cahn: Founders Should Offer Up to 5% Equity for Transformational Hires
David Cahn · David Cahn: Why Servers, Steel and Power Are the Pillars Powering the Future of AI | E1186 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings · Aug 5, 2024 · at 1:09:58
David Cahn is a partner at Sequoia Capital. He offers unorthodox advice for startup founders regarding equity compensation for key talent.
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“I tell founders all the time, if you find someone who's going to transform your business, give them five percent of the company. Now I say that it's an extreme statement. Maybe it's four percent, maybe it's three percent. But I think we get very married to like, oh, an early engineer is worth 50 bips and a executive is worth 200 bips. And it's like, these are made up numbers. Like if someone is going to double the value of your business, and I strongly believe that a transformational hire can double the value of your business. Pay them for it. It's gonna be worth it.”
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