Codie SanchezFounder @ Contrarian Thinking

Stop handing out equity. Do this instead.

1 May 2026 · 1 min

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Codie Sanchez proposes earned equity instead of upfront grants. Offer a base salary, bonus, and equity that vests only when the company hits specific targets, like doubling EBITDA from $2M to $4M. This aligns incentives and protects founders from dilution.

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If you are paying your employees too much or you can't find top talent, how do 8-figure founders hire and pay execs? At Contrarian Thinking, we use the earned equity framework. Here's how it works. Instead of saying, here's 5% of the company, you say, here's a path to 5% if you can create measurable value. Let's say you hire a COO. Base pay, $180K. Target bonus, $120K. But the real incentive, an equity earnout pool. In that scenario, you get a 5% total equity pool. It vests only when EBITDA grows from $2 to $4 million margins and improves by 5 points. Here's the magic. You show them the value worth $3 to $5 million at exit. If they don't hit the goals, well, they still got paid really well, but you didn't lose your shirt or give away a bunch of your company. Munger always says incentives follow the incentives. So if you want to walk through any of this live or you want to show me your model, come to the Growth Accelerator Workshop. We'll help you hire and create the comp plans for your top performers.