Hiring and retaining talent is one of the most severe challenges of early-stage companies. Employee stock options are a fair, but often misunderstood tool for aligning interests between early employees. Fortunately, the Director of Talent at Index Ventures, Dominic Jacquesson has combined knowledge from both sides of the Atlantic and created a comprehensive guide called “Rewarding Talent” (Online Handbook; Quick Guide; Index Ventures OptionPlan).

In the podcast, Dominic shares his findings on the differences between European and US startups and gives tips for early-stage founders on building sustainable long-term relationships with its employees.

“We are very much advocates of giving something to everyone. It might be a small amount, but as you scale, try to make everyone an owner.”

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Listen to similar episodes like this:

• Edward Wray on scaling up, learning from mistakes and creating liquidity
• John Lilly, Partner at Greylock, on ‘product intentionality’ and humility in venture
• Eze Vidra, former general partner at Google Ventures, on building up Europe’s startup ecosystem