Equity Breakdown
What is Vanta’s projected ARR for end of 2025?
~$275M
You're up against Figma, what should you get ahead of?
IPO / stock liquidity vs. room for more equity growth at our company size & stage
How many years did it take Figma to reach ~$750M in revenue?
12
Which company requires strict RTO policies and is “rigid”?
Rippling
Which company received a $1B breakup fee?
Figma
What is the equity vehicle OpenAI gives to candidates and what is the maximum cap on it?
PPU (profit participation units) & capped at a 10x return
What cultural attributes of Rippling can be repositioned to our advantage?
High-intensity / lower empathy, less collaborative
How many months did it take Vanta to double ARR from $100M to $200M?
17
Which company offers remote flexibility for U.S. employees but mandates office for some roles?
Figma
What is Stripe’s most recent estimated valuation?
~$91.5B
Which company structures grants annually, not over 4 years?
Stripe
What is OpenAI's office policy & how would you position Vanta against it?
They're hybrid, requiring most employees to come to the office 3/week.
Vanta’s remote-first policy offers greater flexibility for where you work today and in the future, should you choose to relocate.
What CAGR did Vanta achieve from Series A to C?
~70%
What cultural values should you lead with to position Vanta over OpenAI?
Remote first, uncapped equity upside based on our performance, rapid growth leading challenges w/ maintaining culture, and/or overall media presence wrt controversy.
How many employees did OpenAI grow by in the first 6 months of 2025?
From ~2K to ~6K
A candidate asks, “How do I compare Vanta vs. Figma equity?” What’s your response?
Figma is a great company, but the biggest wealth creation may already be behind them. While the Figma IPO is incoming, there is less room for exponential return since most upside is already priced in. At Vanta, you’re early enough to make meaningful equity gains as we scale.
Scenario: Candidate is choosing between Vanta and Stripe. What three angles do you hit to win?
- Equity upside
- Growth trajectory
- Equity grant structure (annual vs. 4 years)
A candidate is considering Vanta vs. another quickly growing SaaS company (e.g.: Figma or Rippling). What key points would you lean on to sell?
- Revenue growth, ours being 60%+ and the average SaaS company being ~30%
- Reached $200M in ARR in just 6 years (vs. Figma’s 12 years to similar scale)
- $180M ARR at end of 2024 → Targeting $275M by EOY 2025 → $400M+ in 2026
How would you phrase your questions to assess culture challenges with a candidate's current employer or competing opportunity?
What sort of culture do you find yourself thriving in and enjoying? / What would you change about your current environment if you could?
Which company filed to go public in 2025 & at what projected share price?
Figma, $33 / share
You’re up against Stripe. A candidate is concerned about total comp. How do you reframe the equity upside at Vanta?
Our equity structure is intentionally designed to give employees meaningful ownership and earlier upside, unlike at Stripe, where equity is already priced at a late-stage valuation. Stripe’s equity may feel more predictable, but it also has less room to grow. In contrast, Vanta is still in the earlier innings of its trajectory and growing at 60% YoY, which opens the door to much greater potential equity multiples
This is how you should position Vanta's equity and growth trajectory when a candidate compares it to Figma, a company preparing for IPO after 12+ years and a $750M revenue run rate.
Vanta offers greater equity upside and a faster growth trajectory, with the opportunity to join during a true inflection point, early enough to drive impact and benefit from meaningful wealth creation, unlike Figma where most equity upside is already priced in pre-IPO
This is one of the key reasons why Rippling’s offer may look more attractive on paper than Vanta’s, and it's critical to discuss it early with candidates to ensure an apples-to-apples equity comparison.
Rippling’s aggressive equity valuation and front-loaded vesting schedule
Because Rippling’s offer may look higher on paper due to the way they value and structure their equity, it’s important to help candidates understand:
Rippling’s equity valuation likely assumes more future growth than is realistic at their stage (Series G), whereas Vanta’s equity may have more true upside because the company is earlier in its trajectory.
Vanta structures equity to offer meaningful ownership earlier, rather than front-loading perceived value.
So when you start the equity conversation early and help them understand how to value potential upside, you’re enabling a more balanced (apples to apples) comparison, not just looking at total comp at face value.
When a London-based candidate faces similar in-office requirements from both Vanta and Stripe, this cultural messaging approach can help your team close by highlighting Vanta’s unique employee experience.
Emphasize Vanta’s smaller, high-growth environment where the candidate will have a bigger seat at the table, faster career growth, direct impact on shaping the business, close leadership accessibility, supportive teamwork, contrasting Stripe’s larger, more bureaucratic structure
This company offers Profit Participation Units (PPUs) with a 10x cap on returns instead of traditional RSUs, making long-term upside more limited despite its $300B valuation. What is this company and how do we use this to our advantage?
OpenAI
OpenAI’s Profit Participation Units (PPUs) have meaningful limitations primarily because of the 10x cap on returns.
🚫 Capped Upside
PPUs can only grow in value up to 10x their original grant amount.
So even if OpenAI's valuation or profits skyrocket well beyond expectations, employees won’t see unlimited upside from their equity.
In contrast, traditional RSUs (Vanta) have uncapped potential. If the company performs extremely well, the value of those shares can keep increasing indefinitely.
💡 Why that’s a meaningful limitation:
At a company already valued at $300B, the potential for massive future growth (and equity gain) is likely smaller than at an earlier-stage company.
That makes the cap feel even more restrictive, especially to candidates looking for long-term wealth-building opportunities.
TLDR: PPUs reduce risk by offering profit sharing and predictable returns, but they limit the reward ceiling, especially compared to RSUs at high-growth companies where stock value can multiply many times over. So while OpenAI may pay top-of-market salaries, its equity structure is less attractive for those seeking big upside.