SF Gate Options Article: Yeah, That’s Me

November 13th, 2006

Another related echo-effect from the double digg a while back was more traffic. One visitor to my blog was a reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle (SF Gate), writing an article regarding the use of stock options as compensation.

Here’s said Chronicle article Options Have Lost Their Luster… which I think was printed in the Sunday edition.

My two cents in the form of a quote shows up at the bottom. Anybody who knows me personally (or reads this blog) wouldn’t see anything I said in that article as a surprise, however I would add a few minor things:

First, there is a slight implication that I was a paper millionaire – I certainly wasn’t, even at the high point of my shares’ worth. Let’s just say I could have bought very expensive car or had hefty down payment for a house had I sold. But like many others who had valuable pieces of paper, I thought the company’s stock would continue rise, not sink, so I do admit to some delusions of retirement at 35. I basically didn’t sell when I could have.

Second, both times I really believed in both company’s products, and was excited by the technology. I’m still excited by technology today, as you can tell from reading this blog. But there is more to life than just chasing an ephemeral payout that may or may not ever arrive.

I still feel there are many reasons to work for a start-up or create a technology company other than options or the money you hope to get. There is the pleasure of creating something new, the satisfaction of providing a useful service to people, or the joy of being your own boss. These are all totally great reasons I support and could get behind. But one lesson I hope that has been learned from Web 1.0, is that as soon as MBAs start flooding in hoping to get rich quick, creating “me too” stuff, there is a danger of diluting all the aforementioned reasons and turning people into nothing more than speculators.

Lastly, I would consider working for a start-up again, but my primary compensation would certainly not be options. I would require a good, stable base salary, so I could continue plugging away with my relatively boring 401k, with options as icing on the cake. And it would have to be for technology that I really believed in, that would further my career, not just selling pet-food online, etc.

After reading the SF Gate article, I was reminded of the old adage regarding putting all your eggs in one basket, and the other one about not counting chickens. Lastly, my time of unemployment will likely taint my view of finances for the rest of my life. So yeah, I’m a lot more tortoise than hare these days.

Anyhow, I’m still continually pleased to learn real, live, actual people are reading this blog. Plus, it was good for me to read an article indicating that I’m not alone in my technologically-conservative way of thinking.

Note: I may write some future posts about the companies (SoftBook Press, Mightywords.com, Gemstar TV-Guide) I worked for, but the story is a bit long and personal so I’ve avoided it up until now. At least, I’ll add said companies to my about page.

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