For a company with a valuation of tens of billions of dollars, it is very rare for a company to use 5% of its shares as an option pool for employees at one time. It is very rare in most industries. It is even more rare for a single shareholder to use so many shares alone.
For most large companies, the competition among various shareholders is very cruel. Everyone is extremely protective of their own shares, and at the same time they covet the shares of others.
The option pools of most companies are diluted by shareholders in equal proportions, just like financing. After all shareholders sit together and discuss a point, all shareholders are diluted in equal proportions.
If you want to take out 5%, then the 5% will be taken out by the existing shareholders according to the existing shareholding ratio, but this is not easy, because it requires the shareholders to pay outside.
Li Mu has brought Makino Technology to where it is today. Shares and money are not so important. He is the major shareholder himself. After financing, he still has 65% of the shares. It is not a big problem for him to give 5 points, but It will be of great help and promotion to the future development of the entire enterprise.
In the future, Taobao's valuation will not be lower than that of Makino Technology. If Taobao Logistics is added, it will probably become an even bigger behemoth. For Li Mu, he has now made enough money that he will never spend in several lifetimes. , so now it is time for him to consider how to divide the profits.
Taking advantage of the great news of Makino Technology’s US$33 billion financing, we should promptly formulate an option reward policy, which will be a huge boost to the morale of the entire team.
The option itself is closely linked to the market value of the company. The higher the market value of the company in the future, the greater the returns that employees holding options will receive.
Later, Li Mu said to Lin Qingya: "Our options and stocks will definitely continue to increase in value in the future. However, because most employees have urgent cash needs, our company has an internal rule. Once employees meet the exercise requirements, they will decide to exercise their options." To cash out, the company will pay to buy the options or shares in his hands at the market price, and then put them back into the option pool."
Lin Qingya said: "You mean to circulate our option pool?"
"Yes." Li Mu nodded: "The option pool cannot just go out but not go in. In this case, after the five points are divided, the equity will be diluted again. For us in the future, cash is the most irrelevant thing, and options The shares are divided into smaller shares, so if our employees decide to exercise the options, we will use the company’s funds to buy back the options.”
In view of the fact that every employee’s living standard, income level and expenditure needs are different, very few employees can hold the company’s options or shares for several consecutive years, regardless of the option to cash out, and the vast majority of employees will After the option is allowed to be exercised, it will be exercised within a short period of time and the cash will be obtained first. In this case, the company will pay to buy the options back. The employees who got the options will get real money, and the company's option pool will be regained. In addition, for new employees in the later period, the total amount of the option pool is sufficiently guaranteed.
By defining the operation method of the option pool as a cycle, what will drive the continued operation of the option pool in the future will not be scarce equity, but cash. This will be more beneficial to the company's long-term development in the future.
Although Li Mu is willing to share profits, he has a certain limit after all. If his shares continue to be diluted, he may eventually lose control of the company. This is unacceptable to him at this stage. If he reaches a certain age in the future, If you decide to retire, you can hand over control of the company. At that time, you can also gradually cash out your shares and enjoy life to the fullest. But before that, Li Mu still needs to ensure absolute control of his company.
After settling the issue of options, Li Mu asked Lin Qingya to immediately formulate the current option allocation rules, and then arrange for someone to make relevant announcements and announce them to all employees of Makino Technology. He himself was already ready to return to China. The last thing before leaving is to take down Ben. Clarkson, who proposed the concept of "centralization".
…
When Ben. Clarkson came to Makino Technology as scheduled, he had always been extremely worried.
The reason for his anxiety is that he indeed admires Li Mu beyond all peers. Ben. Clarkson once conducted a very in-depth study of Li Mu's entire entrepreneurial history, and the more in-depth the research, the more he admired Li Mu. admiration.
What amazed Ben. Clarkson the most was that Makino Technology made no mistakes during its high-speed advancement and almost always took the best route at the fastest speed. This is really admirable.
After years of development, the Internet industry has gradually formed a number of relatively mature subdivisions, and each subdivision is an extremely large and complex maze. Li Mu gave Ben. Clarkson the feeling that A person with special abilities who can walk through walls, quickly rush into every field, and can pass levels as fast as possible. For such a perverted existence, Ben. Clarkson only has Li Mu in mind.
Lin Qingya brought Ben Clarkson to Li Mu's office. Standing outside the door, Ben Clarkson's heart almost jumped into his throat.
Although he didn't know why Li Mu would take the initiative to invite him over for a chat, he knew very well that if a busy man like Li Mu could invite him over for a chat, he must have read the article he wrote.
Just when Ben Clarkson was wondering what Li Mu's real purpose was in finding him, Lin Qingya had already knocked on the door of Li Mu's office, and then made a gesture of invitation, asking Ben Clarkson to come forward.
Ben.Clarkson hesitated for a moment, but then walked in nervously. At this moment, Li Mu was sitting in his desk. When he looked up and saw Ben.Clarkson, he couldn't help but be surprised. He never imagined that Ben.Clarkson was actually a person. A burly muscular man.
Li Mu also thought that the editor-in-chief of a well-known IT magazine like Ben. Clarkson must also have an Internet background. The overall feeling should be like Bill Gates. He wears glasses and is very bookish. He usually looks a bit dull just looking outside.
Ben. Clarkson himself is not only a strong muscular man, but also does not wear glasses. He has a palm-sized tattoo on his thick arm, which is the portrait of a little girl.
Lin Qingya walked in behind Ben Clarkson and introduced to Li Mu: "Mr. Li, this is Mr. Clarkson."
After that, he said to Ben Clarkson: "Mr. Clarkson, this is Mr. Li, Li Mu."
Ben. Clarkson said very excitedly: "Hello, Mr. Li, I have admired you for a long time, and today I finally have the opportunity to meet you in person!"
Li Mu said politely: "Mr. Clarkson, I have admired you for a long time. I have been reading all your recent articles and blogs. Your understanding of the Internet is the strongest of anyone I have ever seen."
Ben. Clarkson said extremely modestly: "Mr. Li Mu is ridiculous. To use a Chinese idiom to describe it, those of mine are just words on paper. Compared with entrepreneurs like you who actually start a business, they are really far behind."
Li Mu smiled slightly and said: "There is a use for talking about war on paper. If the talk on paper is not done correctly, it will definitely be of no value. But if the real key points can be found, then talking about war on paper is equivalent to strategizing. In all large-scale battles, real commanders will They are not on the front line, or even thousands of miles away from it, but it is precisely because of their understanding and grasp of key points that they can gain insight into the overall situation and successfully fight a war involving countless people."
Ben.Clarkson nodded and said with a smile: "You are right."
Li Mu asked Ben Clarkson: "What did Mr. Clarkson do before joining "Silicon-Valley-Magazine"?"
Ben Clarkson said: "Before this, I was doing product development at Apple. After Steve Jobs left, I joined Cisco and was also doing product development."
Li Mu said in surprise: "How can product development become the editor-in-chief of a magazine? Isn't this span too big?"
Ben. Clarkson smiled: "That's what it sounds like. In fact, the main reason is that when I was at Apple, I tried to write columns for some technology and IT magazines. After writing and writing, I found that I quite like being an industry commentator, so I started working at Cisco When I was working, I found an opportunity to go to the magazine for an interview. The other party was very satisfied with both of us and the salary offered was pretty good, so I agreed.”
Li Mu couldn't help but nodded and smiled: "It seems that you have a lot of experience in the industry. In the past few years, have you become bored as an industry commentator? Has it ever given you the idea of returning to the front line?"
Ben.Clarkson sighed softly and said: "I can honestly say that from my heart, I do have the idea of returning to the front line. The commentator has been doing it for too long and has seen too many successes and failures. I always feel as if I am already very experienced and can’t wait to prove my current abilities.”
Having said this, Ben. Clarkson paused and said: "But if I think about it from another dimension, I feel that I have been out of touch with the industry for too long now, and my practical ability must be very weak. Many times, I have very clear ideas in my mind and have many ideas. , but I am afraid that there will be problems on the execution side, just like the author, if Hemingway writes the same story, it will be "The Old Man and the Sea", but if he writes it with poor writing skills, it may be a boring and bad article."
Li Mu said: "I very much agree with what you said. Theories and ideas must be realized with strong execution. Both are indispensable."
Ben Clarkson smiled: "That's why I feel that I may not be suitable to return to the front line of the Internet industry. What I am sure of now is that I have some industry analysis capabilities, but the rest are still unknown. "
Li Mu nodded, looked at Ben. Clarkson, and said seriously: "Have you ever thought that in the team cooperation mode, your industry analysis capabilities can also be implemented through other members of the team?"
Ben.Clarkson asked curiously: "Mr. Li, what do you mean?"
Li Mu said: "I invited you here today because I have two positions that I hope you will consider together."
Ben. Clarkson subconsciously asked: "Which two?"
"The editor-in-chief of YY.com's IT channel, and the general counsel of Makino Technology Strategic Research Office!"
(End of chapter)