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1. 

   Darren, 1 Feb 2005 @ 11:25am

   
   

   No Subject Given

   the problem of course is that it isnt an issue of how much cash the company has, since they're paying the award in stock, not cash. as long as total dilution remains small, practices such as these may make sense, but to me, the founders award reeks of yet another example of how unfriendly google will be to regular shareholders. multiple-class shares with different vote counts, a triumverate management team, a virtual vacuum of financial guidance, and now, regular stock-based awards for projects the company is unwilling to discuss or specify why millions of dollars were a justified bonus.
   
   that said, im probably just jealous. and on the other hand, i do want companies i own to keep talented employees and encourage innovation, so its not the worst idea ive heard.

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2. 

   Tim, 2 Feb 2005 @ 3:09am

   
   

   Re: No Subject Given

   Well yeah. I remember when I worked - for 366 days - in a moderately large international corporation, at a marketing (*spit!*) conference in Miami, I, the humble techie, watched the CEO highlight some middle-manager and say "here, have 1500 stock options" in front of the whole company by way of reward. Far from inspiring me to think "oooh, I can have money too", I just thought it was really quite disgusting to behold.
   
   Anyway. Point is, the larger the company, the more traditional they become. Stock options have been around for ages, and really, I'd just prefer to have honest money in savings account and be done rather than yanking my chain around with what the options are worth today.

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3. 

   nonuser, 2 Feb 2005 @ 5:12am

   
   

   Re: No Subject Given

   The article said this was an outright stock grant vested over four years, not options. That's good, because there's a pretty good chance that google's stock won't be as high four years from now.
   As for startups spinning out of google... yeah, it's probably happened already. No company can corner the market for talent, if only because there won't be enough front burner projects to satisfy everybody.

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