# The Fair Share: A charter for maximising employee equity

Author:

The Carta Team

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Read time:

3 minutes

Published date:

March 19, 2025

The Fair Share is a set of principles and operational recommendations for managing employee equity. This article outlines the goals and key principles of the charter, and how you can leverage it to guide your company's or client's equity strategy.

## What’s the purpose of this equity charter?

The Fair Share has been created with the following goals in mind:

**1. Help founders identify and overcome common equity-related issues**\
From deciding who should keep [vested options](/content/learn/equity/stock-options/vesting/index.html) to managing share schemes in different countries, the considerations involved in granting equity can feel overwhelming – especially for founders with no prior experience. Basing equity decisions on market data and industry guidelines can help companies develop a fair and scalable [compensation strategy](/content/learn/startups/compensation/compensation-strategy/index.html) from the get-go.

**2. Drive alignment between startup founders and board members**\
As many founders know, [employee equity](/content/learn/startups/compensation/employee-equity/index.html) is one of the most contentious items on the board’s agenda – and getting it right is critical. While each board member can offer a valuable perspective on what ‘good’ equity practices look like, this won’t necessarily reflect market standards or the founder’s [compensation philosophy](/content/learn/startups/compensation/compensation-philosophy/index.html). Following a set of equity principles can help startups build a well-rounded, scalable framework.

**3. Guide the long-term success of venture-backed companies**\
If talent is the engine of a startup, then equity is the fuel. Well-incentivised teams give companies a greater chance of success, and more success throughout the venture ecosystem helps to inspire the next generation of founders and builders.

## Who is it for?

The Fair Share is a valuable resource for anyone with a vested interest in employee equity – whether you’re new to the game or a seasoned professional.

Founders, execs, general counsels and people leaders: use this charter to design or refine your company’s [equity compensation](/content/learn/equity/compensation/index.html) strategy. It’s intended to be shared with employees as well, giving your team more visibility into how their equity is governed.

Law firms, advisors and VCs: get up to speed with equity trends, market standards and best practices. Combined with your industry experience, this charter will help you guide your clients and portfolio companies to success in today’s climate.

## What are the guiding principles?

Our equity charter consists of seven key principles:

1. Communicate that equity value can go up and down

2. Take a data-driven approach to equity from day one

3. Award market-winning equity, wherever you hire

4. Regularly refresh equity for top-performing employees

5. Default to ‘good leaver’ status

6. Make employee equity a board-level concern

7. Pair equity for all with a high-performance culture

[Download the full charter](https://z.carta.com/fair-share-charter) for a detailed explanation of each principle, including best practices and recommendations.

## A note on contributors

Despite our deep expertise and wealth of data, we know that Carta doesn’t have all the answers. By partnering with prominent VC and law firms, we’re able to draw on their commercial and legal experience to provide a more comprehensive outlook on startup equity management.