Most growth companies are so focused on enhancing their product or service offering that compensation is sometimes overlooked. However, laying the right foundation early in a company’s lifecycle is a prerequisite to attracting and retaining the necessary talent to move the business from idea to execution to IPO.
In this talk, we will cover the importance of compensation structure and guideline development, equity incentive strategy, stock option pool sizing and founder pay decisions during the growth phase of the business. Then, for when an IPO comes into focus, we will discuss what’s need to get your pay programs ready for the public company market and pay-related challenges in the first year after IPO.
Pearl Meyer
Managing Director
Pearl Meyer
Managing Director
Rob is a managing director with Pearl Meyer with over 12 years of experience in executive compensation and finance. He serves as a trusted advisor to boards and senior management at public and private firms across North America. Rob specializes in working with emerging and high growth companies that are pursuing or have recently completed a transaction, such as an IPO or deSPAC. He often works with clients to help them prepare for an IPO and in the design of equity programs across each stage in their lifecycle, including pre-and-post IPO. Rob works with companies in all industries, but he has in-depth knowledge and expertise in designing compensations strategies for organizations in technology, fintech, green tech, and life science/biotech. Prior to joining Pearl Meyer, Rob was a co-founding partner at Echelon Compensation Partners, an independent consulting firm specializing in executive and broad-based compensation at privately held and publicly traded companies, and a director at Farient Advisors in Los Angeles. He is a Certified Executive Compensation Professional, a distinction awarded by WorldatWork for excellence in the field, and a Certified Equity Professional, which is the only internationally recognized equity compensation designation focusing on taxation, accounting, securities laws, and administration of equity-based incentive programs. Rob holds a BSc. with Honors degree in International Management with American Business Studies from the University of Manchester, UK.
Ryan Hourihan is a managing director with Pearl Meyer in the Los Angeles office. He has over ten years of experience advising boards and senior management on incentive compensation design, corporate governance, and performance measurement with the objective of supporting business strategy, value creation, and shareholder interests. Mr. Hourihan is particularly experienced in compensation challenges unique to privately held firms seeking to compete with publicly traded firms. His clients have included Fortune 500 organizations, privately held companies, and pre-IPO ventures across an array of industries. Prior to joining Pearl Meyer, Mr. Hourihan co-founded Echelon Compensation Partners, a boutique consulting firm that specialized in offering privately held and small- to mid-cap public organizations with high-level management compensation services. Mr. Hourihan is a Certified Executive Compensation Professional and holds a BS from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business.
