Coming soon · Book Profile
Complete Guide Executive Compensation Ellig
A comprehensive desktop reference guide for designing, implementing, and governing effective executive compensation packages that align with corporate strategy, performance, and regulatory requirements.
A profile of this book is on the way.
What it’s about
The Complete Guide to Executive Compensation serves as an essential desktop reference for compensation professionals, senior managers, and board directors tasked with navigating the complexities of executive pay. This revised and expanded guide provides a systematic framework for creating a sound compensation package that strategically blends salary, benefits, perquisites, and both short- and long-term incentives. Author Bruce Ellig draws on decades of experience to explain the critical issues and alternatives, detailing how to tailor pay programs to company lifecycle, business strategy, and stakeholder expectations while ensuring compliance with a labyrinth of government regulations, tax laws, and accounting standards. It is an indispensable tool for anyone seeking to understand, design, or approve an executive compensation system that genuinely rewards performance and creates long-term value.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- A compensation professional, executive, or board member who wants to design or approve a sound, defensible, and effective executive compensation package.
- The problem
- Designing and managing executive compensation is incredibly complex, involving a confusing array of pay components, conflicting stakeholder demands, and a constantly changing landscape of tax, accounting, and SEC regulations. They feel overwhelmed by the complexity, anxious about making costly mistakes, and fearful of shareholder backlash, public scrutiny, or regulatory non-compliance.
- The plan
- Understand the complete framework of executive compensation, including its five key elements and how they relate to company strategy and lifecycle.
- Master the art of selecting and applying performance measurements and standards that drive desired results.
- Learn the detailed design considerations for each pay component: salary, benefits, perquisites, short-term incentives, and long-term incentives.
- Navigate the complex landscape of stakeholders, rulemakers, and the critical role of the Board of Directors.
- Effectively communicate the compensation plan to ensure clarity, buy-in, and motivation.
- The payoff
- Confidently designing and defending an executive compensation package that is strategically aligned, performance-driven, and compliant. · Becoming a trusted expert and strategic partner in driving organizational success through effective reward systems. · Successfully navigating public scrutiny and shareholder demands with a well-reasoned and transparent compensation philosophy.
See our guide
Related profiles we’ve built
Additional reading
- IRS and SEC Legal Code (via Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute) · U.S. Government
Provides the primary source for the specific rules governing equity compensation discussed in the book, such as IRC Section 83(b), Section 422 (for ISOs), Section 409A, and SEC Rule 701.
- VentureHacks.com · Nivi and Naval
Cited as a source of 'good advice for startups,' specifically for providing benchmarks on appropriate equity grants for advisors.
- AngelList (angel.co/salaries) · AngelList
Mentioned as a key resource for both founders and employees to research and benchmark typical salary and equity data for various startup roles, ensuring offers are competitive.
- The Open Guide to Equity Compensation · GitHub community (jlevy)
Listed in the end notes as a resource, suggesting it provides more in-depth or community-driven information on the topic.
- Clerky.com · Clerky
Referenced as a provider of streamlined legal documents for startups, including a set of stock plan forms developed in collaboration with Y Combinator and Orrick.
- Crunchbase.com · Crunchbase
Listed in the end notes as a platform for finding business information about private and public companies, useful for general research.
- Founder’s Pocket Guide: Startup Valuation · 1x1 Media (implied)
Expands on a core topic of the cap table guide, covering various valuation methods for arriving at a defensible pre-money valuation.
- Founder’s Pocket Guide: Convertible Debt · 1x1 Media (implied)
Provides details on convertible debt, a funding structure mentioned as a key item to be tracked on a cap table before it converts to equity.
- Founder’s Pocket Guide: Terms Sheets and Preferred Shares · 1x1 Media (implied)
Details the rights, preferences, and protections of preferred shares, which are critical for accurately modeling exit scenarios in more sophisticated cap tables.
- Founder’s Pocket Guide: Stock Options and Vesting · 1x1 Media (implied)
Explains how to structure and track stock options and vesting, which are managed within the option pool recorded on the cap table.