Building Value Together: Stock Option Plans in Practice
Access: 🌍 Open
Category: 🟢 Talent & Attraction
Format: 🎤 Conference
About the event
Attracting great talent is one thing. Building a team that stays engaged, takes ownership and grows with your company is another.
In our first session on shared ownership, one principle stood out: don’t start with the tool. Start with your strategy.
Why do you want to share value? Who do you want to involve? What do you want to achieve? There is no one-size-fits-all model — and the right approach starts with clear answers to these questions.
But once the why is clear, how do you turn it into a plan that works in practice — today and over time?
Which mechanism makes sense? When should you start? Who should participate and on what terms? How do you approach valuation, vesting, leavers and exit scenarios? And how do you build something that can remain meaningful as the company evolves — and the people involved evolve with it?
This session will explore these questions through the real experience of Pierre-Olivier Danhaive, Founder & CEO of Verbolia. Pierre-Olivier introduced Verbolia’s first warrant plan in early 2021. More than four years and several rounds later, he can now look back at the original choices with something particularly valuable: hindsight.
The company has grown. The plan has evolved. People have joined, left or taken on different roles. And the expectations, priorities and circumstances of someone receiving a plan today may not be the same four, five or ten years from now.
Pierre-Olivier will take us through that journey: why they started, who they involved, how they approached valuation and vesting, how they communicated the plan, and what they adapted along the way. More than four years in, he will also share the first observations and lessons emerging from the experience — and how these are shaping their thinking for the future.
Alongside him, Françoise Platteborse, Founder & CEO of BlueTrees will bring the expert perspective throughout the conversation. Drawing on more than 20 years of experience designing and implementing stock option plans, warrants and other participation schemes in Belgium, Bluetres will use Verbolia’s journey to put each decision into perspective: what were the alternatives, what are the trade-offs and implications, what should be anticipated from the outset, and how might the answer differ in another company or context?
Rather than presenting one “right” model, the session will connect one company’s real choices and experience over time with a broader framework for thinking about strategy, implementation and people.
What you'll learn
How to translate your strategic objectives into the key decisions behind a plan
When to start — and how your company’s stage, valuation and financing context can influence your options
How to think about participants, allocation, vesting, leavers and exit scenarios
How to anticipate change — in the company, the plan and the people involved
How to communicate value and expectations clearly, both at the start and as circumstances evolve
Which questions tend to emerge only with time — and what can be anticipated from day one
The objective of this session is to make a process that often feels complex much easier to navigate — and give you a practical framework and roadmap you can rely on to shape an approach that makes sense for your company and remains relevant as both your organisation and its people evolve.
Who is it for?
CEOs & Founders
HR Leaders
CFOs
Business Leaders & Decision-makers
Business Angels & Investors
Companies considering or already developing a shared ownership or value-sharing plan