If I'd Only Known That

Donald Rumsfeld famously said of the Iraq war that "There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don't know we don't know." He got a lot of flack for that, but what he said makes a lot of sense. He should have added one more, however: the unknown knowns, the things we think we know that we really don't.

The equity compensation industry is highly regulated, with many pitfalls for the unwary. This book contains some humorous and painful examples of what happens when otherwise competent and responsible professionals don't know what they don't know and fail to get advice before taking actions that result in consequences that range from the merely awkward to the downright serious.

This book is not a comprehensive compendium of all the things you shouldn't do. That list could go on and on. But it does try to cover the most common kinds of problems that occur, presented in the form of brief case histories, each followed by lessons on what should have been done. The chapters cover the following subjects:

Plan Design and Modifications
Administration, Process, and Policy
Culture and Cultivation
Communication and Education
Technology
Tax and Law
Accounting and Valuation
Corporate Transactions