'Startups': A View
from the West
Kyle Holm
is an Associate Partner for
Radford, a group within
Aon Hewitt's Talent,
Rewards & Performance
practice focused on
technology and life
sciences companies.
He is based in
San Francisco,
California.
Kyle Holm has nearly 20 years of compensation consulting experience
covering executive, broad-based and Board of Director pay. His work covers
all elements of compensation including base salary, annual incentives and
long-term incentives. He consults on the design of cash and stock-based
compensation programs for a varied range of public and private companies with
a focus on high growth organizations in the technology and life sciences sectors.
Kyle has been an instructor for the Northern California Human Resources
Association's continuing education program. His work has been published in
WorkSpan and he co-authored a chapter on initial public offerings in the recently
published Understanding Executive Compensation - A Practical Guide for
Decision-Makers. He earned a bachelor's degree in finance from Santa
Clara University.
managers were not working in a vacuum when it came
to making job offers. This means providing managers
with data for market pay ranges, for example, so
they don't have to rely on hearsay or what the last
offer was. You don't want to be in a legacy position
later on, wrestling with internal equity issues.
Ironically, though, you don't want to move too
quickly to formalize some programs. Although speed
to market is absolutely critical for business success,
rushing to formalize incentive plans by, for example,
pegging to metrics too early can be a disaster. It
can hem you in, preventing you from adjusting
quickly and can create adverse consequences.
Q. What are these organizations getting right this
time as compared to the pre 2000 dot com boom?
A. Radford: A lot has changed, back then (in
1999-2000), there was no business plan, no revenue
let alone profit, and the company kept going until
they ran out of money. Now, it's less about clicks
and eyeballs. The fundamental changes are that:
1. The money got more disciplined
2. Entrepreneurs got more realistic, and
3. Companies know they have to have a real product
The support structure is better. Venture Capitalists
are doing more to build out their human capital
capability and to support the companies they
invest in. They might have a head of HR on s taff
do a residency in one of their portfolio companies
to develop compensation programs and to help
establish broader HR policies. They sponsor
events and provide networking opportunities
so companies can learn from each other.
Q. Are the talent practices for unicorns any different
from the startups? If yes, what are they doing right?
A. Radford: Since unicorns are, by definition,
very large private companies with a valuation of
$1 billion+, they are much more evolved than a
startup company with a handful of employees.
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