When we sold our last company at a $510M valuation, every single person at the company made money – some quite high amount.
As a solo founder, I tried to be fair and generous with equity. We allocated something like 25% to stock options, which was definitely on the high side. Most people knew that and appreciated it.
But there were also some people who were unhappy. You know, those who would say “How did that person make $x when I only made $y, even though I worked harder?” And eventually, the blame found its way to me, as if it were my personal decision to compensate someone else more (it wasn’t – we had an HR team with comp specialists.)
That bothered me. I genuinely tried to take care of people, and for some, it still fell short of their expectations. Not only was there lack of appreciation, but there was even blame or resentment that followed.
What I realized was: you can only control what you can control. You can’t control how others interpret or react to your actions. If you’ve truly done everything you can to care for your people, you should be at peace, regardless of how some may respond.
So founders – focus on doing your best for your team, and put a full stop there. Don’t spend too much energy worrying about how others will judge your actions. Be at peace if YOU know you did your best given the situation.