New Week, New Headlines: your fast-track through the now + next of work.
This week we’re covering four stories shaping how you work, earn, and lead:
- Your rights at work just changed. From overtime pay to union protections, the federal floor is gone—and what that means depends on where you live and who you work for.
- Women are missing from IPOs. 88% of companies going public this summer had one or no women on their boards, and 93% had one or none in the C-suite. What that signals for equity and wealth building.
- Canva just made overnight millionaires. The design platform’s employee share sale proves there’s another way to spread the wealth—and why every employee should pay attention to equity.
- WTF, OpenAI. Big bonuses, but only for some. What they could have done differently, and why it matters in an AI talent war.
👉 If you want to stay ahead of the forces reshaping work—from politics to IPOs to AI—this one’s for you.
Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. We are not responsible for any losses, damages, or liabilities that may arise from the use of this podcast. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
Thanks for listening!
Hey! We love new friends! Connect with us!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I don't know that I trust a company to innovate if
they can't even innovate theirleadership lineup.
This is your Work Friends,where we cover the now and next
(00:23):
of work.
So you stay ahead, I'm.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Mel Platt and I'm Francesca Ranieri.
We're back with new week, newheadlines.
Of course, there's a lot goingon.
Mel, what are you talking about?
Speaker 1 (00:34):
It was hard to pick, but I'm focusing on a Fortune
article that came out calling itthe bro IPO summer and how
women are missing from boardsand C-suites in the current
surge of public offerings.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Ah, fascinating, and I'm talking about same job,
different rights.
There is a new workplace divide, folks.
I pulled the data, looked atthe last eight months of how
work has changed and, based onthe state that you're living in
and the employer you have, youmight have vastly different
rights, and I want to talk aboutthat.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
That's such a good topic.
I do have one F-yeah news tocover as well.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Oh yeah, we got to cover that.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Little sneak peek.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Okay, same job, different rights.
There is a new workplace divide, so I was actually really
interested to see what is allthe legislation that's come down
in the last eight months sincethe Trump administration has
gotten into office had to reactto that and I want to go through
a few of the things notexhaustive lists, but some of
(01:49):
the major things that havehappened in the last eight
months since the Trumpadministration.
You ready, let's do it.
Pay is frozen, fewer qualifyfor extra pay.
That's number one.
Non-compete ban was dropped.
Employers can block where youwork.
Next Three contractor roll backso easier to call you
independent.
We talked about that on the podwhere employers can say, hey,
(02:09):
you're no longer classified asan employee, we're going to have
you as a contractor.
Bye-bye benefits.
We talked about that.
The labor board weekend,meaning union protections are
harder to enforce.
Federal workers lost unionrights.
Their contracts were canceled.
Obviously we've talked manytimes about the dei cut back and
diversity programs beingstripped harder to enforce.
Federal workers lost unionrights.
Their contracts were canceled.
Obviously, we've talked manytimes about the DEI cutback and
diversity programs beingstripped and safety enforcements
(02:31):
were cut.
We have fewer checks andbalances and, because a lot of
that program was annihilated,slower response times.
There's not as many peoplechecking up on things like OSHA.
Those are just a few of thethings that have happened.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
That's a lot.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
It's a lot.
Meanwhile, there's some thingsthat are stalled in Congress,
like the PRO Act, which wouldmake unionizing easier, the
Equality Act, which would banLGBTQ plus discrimination, the
Paycheck Fairness Act, whichwould close wage gap loopholes,
the Portable Benefits Bill thatwould give you contractors
health and retirement, and theFAIR Act, which would end forced
(03:07):
arbitration.
All of those things are stalledand, by the way, they ain't
going anywhere anytime soon.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
No, and also the White House just released that
talent strategy playbook lastweek.
I highly recommend folks readit, but essentially and I don't
want to butcher this so pleasego read it for yourself and
we'll link to it in the shownotes.
But the headline there isthey're focused very heavily on
apprenticeships and that canmean something for orgs.
(03:34):
But also AI is the Wild West.
They want the folks to use that.
They also don't want people tolose jobs, which is like two
conflicting messages, wherethey're not putting any sort of
barriers or restrictions aroundAI to protect people and their
jobs, but are also encouragingorganizations to do that and
trying to heavily influence howorganizations are run with their
(03:57):
talent strategy.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
I find this interesting because we have the
talent strategy playbook justdropped.
We have a slew of regulationthat has made the federal floor
drop out, which basically meansyour protections as an employee,
the regulations you need toabide by as an organization are
(04:20):
going to be largely left up toeither your state regulation or
an employer.
So it's interesting to me thatthey released this without any
teeth, and it also doesn'tsurprise me whatsoever, because
they don't want to be in thisbusiness of regulating what
businesses do For employees.
There's some things you want toconsider For employers.
(04:42):
There's some things that youwould want to consider For
employees.
Again, your protections dependon where you live.
California very different thanTexas.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
The other thing is it's based on who you work for,
and this isn't necessarily new.
Minimum wage looks different indifferent states.
Overtime can look different indifferent states Not necessarily
something that's new but thefederal floor that used to be
there.
It's completely fallen out andfor employers you have a choice.
You can race to the bottom oryou can set clear standards for
(05:16):
what you protect and you rewardyeah, we talk about this all the
time.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
What do you stand for as an organization that's going
to become even more criticalnow than ever before?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
A thousand percent.
We had a prediction show at thetop of 2025.
And my word for what is thework going to look like in 2025
was clarity, because it will bevery clear what organizations
stand for and what they don't,when they don't have to stand
for anything.
This is coming to roost becausewe're seeing this regulation
(05:48):
getting pulled back.
This is also the place whereand friends, I would very much
pay attention to this whereemployer brand and business
strategy are literally now thesame thing.
The rules you set inside yourwalls will decide if you're
going to keep talent or ifyou're going to lose talent, and
so the big question for me iswhen all of the laws start
clawing and stepping back, whatare the rules as employers?
(06:12):
What are the rules that you'rewriting as an employee, what are
the rules that your company iswriting?
And that's going to tell youeverything, and it's just such a
huge opportunity for businessesto lean into this from a
differentiation perspective.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Oh, 100%, especially when you're thinking about the
employee value proposition.
Why should they come work foryou?
And the headlines inundatedwith AI, everything and none of
us are immune.
Everyone's talking about it,but there's a lot of reports,
now that there's been a littlebit of time, that organizations
aren't seeing the ROI that theywere hoping to with that.
So it's not the solve all.
(06:47):
You're still going to havetalent, challenges and retaining
talent and attracting talent,so the decisions you make today
are going to really matter in2030.
Francesca, you and I have beentalking about women in the
workplace for the last two yearsand covering the mass exodus of
women out of corporate, out ofbusiness, because they don't
(07:11):
feel represented, they don'tfeel supported, and so no
industry is immune, and now IPOsare coming into play.
So here's what you need to knowIPOs are back in a huge way.
Women aren't showing up in theboardroom or the C-suite, though
.
New research looked at 61 IPOfilings this summer and found
that 88% had one or no women ontheir boards and 93% had one or
(07:36):
no women in the C-suite.
Compare that to Russell 3000,where women hold 30% of board
seats and nearly the same inexecutive roles.
Companies going public rightnow are ignoring even baseline
market norms for genderdiversity.
So, as we just spoke about allthe political things around DEI,
with DEI already under fire,this might be signaling a step
(07:59):
backward where women risk beingshut out of the next wave of
growth for companies.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
I have a thought about this.
Yeah, can I tell you my thoughtwomen risk being shut out of
the next wave of growth forcompanies.
I have a thought about this.
Yeah, can I tell you my thought?
Yeah, tell me your thought.
Last week, by Wednesday, threewomen I know different
industries, different ages,different levels quit their job
without having anything to go to, because they were done First
(08:25):
of all.
It's very unfortunate thatthey're not showing up in IP.
First of all, it's veryunfortunate that they're not
showing up in IPOs.
I think it's very unfortunatethat we still are dealing with
the numbers of women in theC-suite, in the big chair,
everything.
And I have a theory that womenare just like I'm done and I'm
going to go build better overhere.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Absolutely.
You and I talk about that asour own kind of personal story.
Right, I'm coaching women leftand right on their career
transition or pivot intosomething else either an
organization that doesprioritize them or doing their
own thing To your good point.
They want to have impact andthey want to feel supported and
(09:04):
they're finding that communityoutside of corporate in a lot of
different ways Because therepresentation is getting
smaller and smaller, as we'veseen.
That trend is happening overtime.
So for folks out there who needan education on IPOs, just in
case, a little lemonade standanalogy, if that's okay, let's
just picture you have a coollemonade stand.
At first, only you and maybeyour family own it.
Then one day you decide youwant to grow big, you buy more
(09:26):
lemons, you get fancier cups,Maybe you even open a lemonade
stand all over town, but youdon't have enough money to do it
by yourself.
So you say, hey, anyone can buya little piece of my lemonade
stand.
And then you split your standinto a lot of tiny pieces called
shares and then you sell them.
That's an IPO.
It's the first time a companylets the public buy pieces of it
(09:47):
on the stock market.
So instead of you just owningthe stand.
Lots of people can own a pieceof that stand and get money to
grow.
Why this matters, why you needto care about this and why you
need to care that women are notbeing represented in this.
Culture starts at the top withIPOs.
That's at any organization, butif a board in the C-suite are
all men, it often trickles downinto hiring promotions,
(10:08):
decision-making that's going toaffect your career path.
Equity and wealth building IPOsusually come with stock options
or grants for people.
If leadership doesn't valuediversity, women and
underrepresented employees, youmight miss out on those
wealth-creating opportunities.
So it's creating greaterdisparity for those groups.
It signals priorities.
(10:28):
A company that sidelines womenat IPO is showing you what it
values upfront, what it doesn'tvalue, and that's a clue whether
it will invest in equityinclusion or employee wellbeing.
Long-term, the impact toinnovation.
Diverse leadership teams makebetter decisions and lack of
diversity is gonna hurt growth,which can affect job security
and company success and futureleadership.
(10:50):
Ipo companies are tomorrow'sbig players in the industry, so
if they aren't building diverseboards right now, the next
decade of leadership pipelinesare going to be even more narrow
.
If IPOs are supposed to beabout the future, why do you
think this is still so stuck inthe past, Francesca?
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Because they can.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Because they can.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
I don't know that I trust a company to innovate if
they can't even innovate theirleadership lineup.
Those are my personal feelingson this.
That's my point of view, andI'm sticking to it.
All right, friend to friend.
Here's what you need to know.
The IPO market is heating up,and we're going to talk about
that in a minute with some ofour FIA news.
The seats at the table, though,are still looking like that old
(11:31):
boys club.
Okay, if you're an employee, payattention to this.
Pay attention to who's makingdecisions at your company.
Ask about the board makeup atall hands or on the website.
Bring it up in your ERG groupsand use your voice to push for
transparency, if that'ssomething you care about.
And if you're choosing whereyou want to work, look at those
(11:51):
leadership teams before you signon, because representation is
culture.
Ultimately, if you're anexecutive, you don't get a free
pass because you're early stage.
That was one of the excusesthat they found in the article.
They're early stage, so theyjust haven't had the chance yet.
It's bullshit.
This is the exact moment where,if you're an executive, you get
(12:12):
to set the tone for thecompany's future, so prioritize
diverse hiring and on boardappointments before you IPO.
Investors and employees shouldbe watching this, and they
likely are and the companiesthat get this right now are
going to win talent and trustfor future, which we were just
talking about with your story.
I don't know, it's gettinginteresting over here.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Is it getting interesting, or it's always been
?
Speaker 1 (12:35):
it's always been backwards.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
It's going a little backwards.
Listen here, you know what itis and again, I just go back to
this like people that know thevalue of it and have seen the
value of it and lived the valueof having a lot of great
representation, will continue todo that, and the people that
haven't figured that out, it'sjust, if you're going to act on
(13:00):
it and I think some people arewilling.
Ignorance, yeah, I agree, butIPO.
Ipo thing is huge though, likethe amount of money when your
company IPOs is ginormous, stockis huge.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
It can be life changing for employees, which is
what I want to cover in my FVATnews because it's super
exciting and it's a women ledcompany.
So there's that, and you and Ihave done a ton of research.
By the way, what kills me justbefore we I'll get off my little
platform in a second, but whatkills me is multiple times we
(13:35):
have covered stats in theresearch around the success of
diverse companies and how itactually helps your bottom line
if you're growing.
It's like where is thedisconnect that's happening, for
folks Don't understand it,don't get it.
There's tons of research tosupport it.
You want to do WTF first?
Speaker 2 (13:56):
I'll do WTF because I think it might be the flip of
what you're talking about.
Last week there was somethingcirculating around open AI
giving every employee a $1.5million bonus based on their
performance, and I read it and Iwas like that's fucking amazing
.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
Every employee.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
They have about 3000 employees.
It's life-changing.
Speaking of IPO moneylife-changing, but when you dig
into it that's actually not thecase.
They gave every engineer, everydeveloper, every decision
science person $1.5 million,vested over two years.
Still very generous.
But what strikes me, and wherethere might have been a huge
(14:35):
opportunity, is if they wouldhave given it to everybody.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Because everyone plays a role in the success of a
company.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
That's what I'm talking about, because we
typically always focus on revgen roles or product development
roles Hugely important, youdon't have a business without
them.
I get that.
But there's always a kind ofsecond class citizen feel to
people that protect yourorganization or enable your
organization.
Without the protection peopleyour trust, your regulation,
(15:07):
your lawyer, some semblance ofHR Right, you're one massive-ass
lawsuit away, right.
Look at some companies likethere is a driverless vehicle
car company that got rid of allof their safety and regulation
team and then, guess what?
They didn't get any of theirsafety and regulations in and
now they're out of business.
Rarely, for that reason, havehad the absolute legend status
(15:30):
that they could have had.
That, by the way, they couldhave ridden for five years in an
ai talent war gone.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Gone because the true story came out.
Yeah w2.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Love the bonus, I love it, but what the fuck?
Why not give it to everyone?
That's all I'm saying.
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Absolutely, because everyone played a role.
You know what, down to theevents person or the janitor in
your building who helps maintainthe office so people can work
in it.
Represent everybody.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
The legend status, the story, the goodwill.
What are we doing on this AIwave?
If we're not abundance man,what are we doing?
What are we doing?
I'm asking you, yeah, okay,what's your afia?
Speaker 1 (16:26):
My afia is the opposite of that.
I hope Fortune featured thearticle about Canva, the graphic
design tool that I think mostpeople use today.
Canva's billionaire foundersare making overnight
millionaires of all of theiremployees.
Most IPO stories this summerare feeling like the same old
playbook, like we just talkedabout, but Canva just reminded
(16:48):
us there's another way to do it,francesca.
So they're valued at $42billion, and Canva ran an
employee share sale that letcurrent and even former
employees cash out on stockbefore the company goes public.
So overnight millionaires weremade not just for founders or
top executives, but for peopleacross all of the teams who
(17:10):
helped build it.
Why this matters.
It's not just a big payday forthem.
It's a statement about howsuccess gets shared.
As we were just talking about,where most IPO headlines are
celebrating investors andleadership, canva is really
spreading the wealth across allemployees who were part of
making them win in themarketplace.
So we've been seeing the broIPO wave, as we just talked
(17:32):
about open AI.
Everything's looking the same,but Canva is showing that
there's a different path, andone where employees aren't just
the footnote of the conversation, but they're central to their
whole story.
That's a differentiator.
If you're an employee.
This is a reminder to payattention to equity and
ownership in your company,especially if you're looking at
startups, because that structurecould change your life.
(17:53):
And if you're an executive,follow Canva, because they're
doing it.
That is all.
That is all I got.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
I love.
It All right, stop All right.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
This episode was produced, edited and all things
by us myself, mel Plett andFrancesca Ranieri.
Our music is by Pink Zebra andif you like this, please rate
and subscribe.
We'd really appreciate it.
That helps keep us going.
Take care, friends.
Bye, friends.
I don't know that I trust a company to innovate if
they can't even innovate theirleadership lineup.
This is your Work Friends,where we cover the now and next
(00:23):
of work.
So you stay ahead, I'm.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Mel Platt and I'm Francesca Ranieri.
We're back with new week, newheadlines.
Of course, there's a lot goingon.
Mel, what are you talking about?
Speaker 1 (00:34):
It was hard to pick, but I'm focusing on a Fortune
article that came out calling itthe bro IPO summer and how
women are missing from boardsand C-suites in the current
surge of public offerings.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Ah, fascinating, and I'm talking about same job,
different rights.
There is a new workplace divide, folks.
I pulled the data, looked atthe last eight months of how
work has changed and, based onthe state that you're living in
and the employer you have, youmight have vastly different
rights, and I want to talk aboutthat.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
That's such a good topic.
I do have one F-yeah news tocover as well.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Oh yeah, we got to cover that.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Little sneak peek.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Okay, same job, different rights.
There is a new workplace divide, so I was actually really
interested to see what is allthe legislation that's come down
in the last eight months sincethe Trump administration has
gotten into office had to reactto that and I want to go through
a few of the things notexhaustive lists, but some of
(01:49):
the major things that havehappened in the last eight
months since the Trumpadministration.
You ready, let's do it.
Pay is frozen, fewer qualifyfor extra pay.
That's number one.
Non-compete ban was dropped.
Employers can block where youwork.
Next Three contractor roll backso easier to call you
independent.
We talked about that on the podwhere employers can say, hey,
(02:09):
you're no longer classified asan employee, we're going to have
you as a contractor.
Bye-bye benefits.
We talked about that.
The labor board weekend,meaning union protections are
harder to enforce.
Federal workers lost unionrights.
Their contracts were canceled.
Obviously we've talked manytimes about the dei cut back and
diversity programs beingstripped harder to enforce.
Federal workers lost unionrights.
Their contracts were canceled.
Obviously, we've talked manytimes about the DEI cutback and
diversity programs beingstripped and safety enforcements
(02:31):
were cut.
We have fewer checks andbalances and, because a lot of
that program was annihilated,slower response times.
There's not as many peoplechecking up on things like OSHA.
Those are just a few of thethings that have happened.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
That's a lot.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
It's a lot.
Meanwhile, there's some thingsthat are stalled in Congress,
like the PRO Act, which wouldmake unionizing easier, the
Equality Act, which would banLGBTQ plus discrimination, the
Paycheck Fairness Act, whichwould close wage gap loopholes,
the Portable Benefits Bill thatwould give you contractors
health and retirement, and theFAIR Act, which would end forced
(03:07):
arbitration.
All of those things are stalledand, by the way, they ain't
going anywhere anytime soon.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
No, and also the White House just released that
talent strategy playbook lastweek.
I highly recommend folks readit, but essentially and I don't
want to butcher this so pleasego read it for yourself and
we'll link to it in the shownotes.
But the headline there isthey're focused very heavily on
apprenticeships and that canmean something for orgs.
(03:34):
But also AI is the Wild West.
They want the folks to use that.
They also don't want people tolose jobs, which is like two
conflicting messages, wherethey're not putting any sort of
barriers or restrictions aroundAI to protect people and their
jobs, but are also encouragingorganizations to do that and
trying to heavily influence howorganizations are run with their
(03:57):
talent strategy.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
I find this interesting because we have the
talent strategy playbook justdropped.
We have a slew of regulationthat has made the federal floor
drop out, which basically meansyour protections as an employee,
the regulations you need toabide by as an organization are
(04:20):
going to be largely left up toeither your state regulation or
an employer.
So it's interesting to me thatthey released this without any
teeth, and it also doesn'tsurprise me whatsoever, because
they don't want to be in thisbusiness of regulating what
businesses do For employees.
There's some things you want toconsider For employers.
(04:42):
There's some things that youwould want to consider For
employees.
Again, your protections dependon where you live.
California very different thanTexas.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
The other thing is it's based on who you work for,
and this isn't necessarily new.
Minimum wage looks different indifferent states.
Overtime can look different indifferent states Not necessarily
something that's new but thefederal floor that used to be
there.
It's completely fallen out andfor employers you have a choice.
You can race to the bottom oryou can set clear standards for
(05:16):
what you protect and you rewardyeah, we talk about this all the
time.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
What do you stand for as an organization that's going
to become even more criticalnow than ever before?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
A thousand percent.
We had a prediction show at thetop of 2025.
And my word for what is thework going to look like in 2025
was clarity, because it will bevery clear what organizations
stand for and what they don't,when they don't have to stand
for anything.
This is coming to roost becausewe're seeing this regulation
(05:48):
getting pulled back.
This is also the place whereand friends, I would very much
pay attention to this whereemployer brand and business
strategy are literally now thesame thing.
The rules you set inside yourwalls will decide if you're
going to keep talent or ifyou're going to lose talent, and
so the big question for me iswhen all of the laws start
clawing and stepping back, whatare the rules as employers?
(06:12):
What are the rules that you'rewriting as an employee, what are
the rules that your company iswriting?
And that's going to tell youeverything, and it's just such a
huge opportunity for businessesto lean into this from a
differentiation perspective.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Oh, 100%, especially when you're thinking about the
employee value proposition.
Why should they come work foryou?
And the headlines inundatedwith AI, everything and none of
us are immune.
Everyone's talking about it,but there's a lot of reports,
now that there's been a littlebit of time, that organizations
aren't seeing the ROI that theywere hoping to with that.
So it's not the solve all.
(06:47):
You're still going to havetalent, challenges and retaining
talent and attracting talent,so the decisions you make today
are going to really matter in2030.
Francesca, you and I have beentalking about women in the
workplace for the last two yearsand covering the mass exodus of
women out of corporate, out ofbusiness, because they don't
(07:11):
feel represented, they don'tfeel supported, and so no
industry is immune, and now IPOsare coming into play.
So here's what you need to knowIPOs are back in a huge way.
Women aren't showing up in theboardroom or the C-suite, though
.
New research looked at 61 IPOfilings this summer and found
that 88% had one or no women ontheir boards and 93% had one or
(07:36):
no women in the C-suite.
Compare that to Russell 3000,where women hold 30% of board
seats and nearly the same inexecutive roles.
Companies going public rightnow are ignoring even baseline
market norms for genderdiversity.
So, as we just spoke about allthe political things around DEI,
with DEI already under fire,this might be signaling a step
(07:59):
backward where women risk beingshut out of the next wave of
growth for companies.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
I have a thought about this.
Yeah, can I tell you my thoughtwomen risk being shut out of
the next wave of growth forcompanies.
I have a thought about this.
Yeah, can I tell you my thought?
Yeah, tell me your thought.
Last week, by Wednesday, threewomen I know different
industries, different ages,different levels quit their job
without having anything to go to, because they were done First
(08:25):
of all.
It's very unfortunate thatthey're not showing up in IP.
First of all, it's veryunfortunate that they're not
showing up in IPOs.
I think it's very unfortunatethat we still are dealing with
the numbers of women in theC-suite, in the big chair,
everything.
And I have a theory that womenare just like I'm done and I'm
going to go build better overhere.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Absolutely.
You and I talk about that asour own kind of personal story.
Right, I'm coaching women leftand right on their career
transition or pivot intosomething else either an
organization that doesprioritize them or doing their
own thing To your good point.
They want to have impact andthey want to feel supported and
(09:04):
they're finding that communityoutside of corporate in a lot of
different ways Because therepresentation is getting
smaller and smaller, as we'veseen.
That trend is happening overtime.
So for folks out there who needan education on IPOs, just in
case, a little lemonade standanalogy, if that's okay, let's
just picture you have a coollemonade stand.
At first, only you and maybeyour family own it.
Then one day you decide youwant to grow big, you buy more
(09:26):
lemons, you get fancier cups,Maybe you even open a lemonade
stand all over town, but youdon't have enough money to do it
by yourself.
So you say, hey, anyone can buya little piece of my lemonade
stand.
And then you split your standinto a lot of tiny pieces called
shares and then you sell them.
That's an IPO.
It's the first time a companylets the public buy pieces of it
(09:47):
on the stock market.
So instead of you just owningthe stand.
Lots of people can own a pieceof that stand and get money to
grow.
Why this matters, why you needto care about this and why you
need to care that women are notbeing represented in this.
Culture starts at the top withIPOs.
That's at any organization, butif a board in the C-suite are
all men, it often trickles downinto hiring promotions,
(10:08):
decision-making that's going toaffect your career path.
Equity and wealth building IPOsusually come with stock options
or grants for people.
If leadership doesn't valuediversity, women and
underrepresented employees, youmight miss out on those
wealth-creating opportunities.
So it's creating greaterdisparity for those groups.
It signals priorities.
(10:28):
A company that sidelines womenat IPO is showing you what it
values upfront, what it doesn'tvalue, and that's a clue whether
it will invest in equityinclusion or employee wellbeing.
Long-term, the impact toinnovation.
Diverse leadership teams makebetter decisions and lack of
diversity is gonna hurt growth,which can affect job security
and company success and futureleadership.
(10:50):
Ipo companies are tomorrow'sbig players in the industry, so
if they aren't building diverseboards right now, the next
decade of leadership pipelinesare going to be even more narrow
.
If IPOs are supposed to beabout the future, why do you
think this is still so stuck inthe past, Francesca?
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Because they can.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Because they can.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
I don't know that I trust a company to innovate if
they can't even innovate theirleadership lineup.
Those are my personal feelingson this.
That's my point of view, andI'm sticking to it.
All right, friend to friend.
Here's what you need to know.
The IPO market is heating up,and we're going to talk about
that in a minute with some ofour FIA news.
The seats at the table, though,are still looking like that old
(11:31):
boys club.
Okay, if you're an employee, payattention to this.
Pay attention to who's makingdecisions at your company.
Ask about the board makeup atall hands or on the website.
Bring it up in your ERG groupsand use your voice to push for
transparency, if that'ssomething you care about.
And if you're choosing whereyou want to work, look at those
(11:51):
leadership teams before you signon, because representation is
culture.
Ultimately, if you're anexecutive, you don't get a free
pass because you're early stage.
That was one of the excusesthat they found in the article.
They're early stage, so theyjust haven't had the chance yet.
It's bullshit.
This is the exact moment where,if you're an executive, you get
(12:12):
to set the tone for thecompany's future, so prioritize
diverse hiring and on boardappointments before you IPO.
Investors and employees shouldbe watching this, and they
likely are and the companiesthat get this right now are
going to win talent and trustfor future, which we were just
talking about with your story.
I don't know, it's gettinginteresting over here.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Is it getting interesting, or it's always been
?
Speaker 1 (12:35):
it's always been backwards.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
It's going a little backwards.
Listen here, you know what itis and again, I just go back to
this like people that know thevalue of it and have seen the
value of it and lived the valueof having a lot of great
representation, will continue todo that, and the people that
haven't figured that out, it'sjust, if you're going to act on
(13:00):
it and I think some people arewilling.
Ignorance, yeah, I agree, butIPO.
Ipo thing is huge though, likethe amount of money when your
company IPOs is ginormous, stockis huge.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
It can be life changing for employees, which is
what I want to cover in my FVATnews because it's super
exciting and it's a women ledcompany.
So there's that, and you and Ihave done a ton of research.
By the way, what kills me justbefore we I'll get off my little
platform in a second, but whatkills me is multiple times we
(13:35):
have covered stats in theresearch around the success of
diverse companies and how itactually helps your bottom line
if you're growing.
It's like where is thedisconnect that's happening, for
folks Don't understand it,don't get it.
There's tons of research tosupport it.
You want to do WTF first?
Speaker 2 (13:56):
I'll do WTF because I think it might be the flip of
what you're talking about.
Last week there was somethingcirculating around open AI
giving every employee a $1.5million bonus based on their
performance, and I read it and Iwas like that's fucking amazing
.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
Every employee.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
They have about 3000 employees.
It's life-changing.
Speaking of IPO moneylife-changing, but when you dig
into it that's actually not thecase.
They gave every engineer, everydeveloper, every decision
science person $1.5 million,vested over two years.
Still very generous.
But what strikes me, and wherethere might have been a huge
(14:35):
opportunity, is if they wouldhave given it to everybody.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Because everyone plays a role in the success of a
company.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
That's what I'm talking about, because we
typically always focus on revgen roles or product development
roles Hugely important, youdon't have a business without
them.
I get that.
But there's always a kind ofsecond class citizen feel to
people that protect yourorganization or enable your
organization.
Without the protection peopleyour trust, your regulation,
(15:07):
your lawyer, some semblance ofHR Right, you're one massive-ass
lawsuit away, right.
Look at some companies likethere is a driverless vehicle
car company that got rid of allof their safety and regulation
team and then, guess what?
They didn't get any of theirsafety and regulations in and
now they're out of business.
Rarely, for that reason, havehad the absolute legend status
(15:30):
that they could have had.
That, by the way, they couldhave ridden for five years in an
ai talent war gone.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Gone because the true story came out.
Yeah w2.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Love the bonus, I love it, but what the fuck?
Why not give it to everyone?
That's all I'm saying.
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Absolutely, because everyone played a role.
You know what, down to theevents person or the janitor in
your building who helps maintainthe office so people can work
in it.
Represent everybody.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
The legend status, the story, the goodwill.
What are we doing on this AIwave?
If we're not abundance man,what are we doing?
What are we doing?
I'm asking you, yeah, okay,what's your afia?
Speaker 1 (16:26):
My afia is the opposite of that.
I hope Fortune featured thearticle about Canva, the graphic
design tool that I think mostpeople use today.
Canva's billionaire foundersare making overnight
millionaires of all of theiremployees.
Most IPO stories this summerare feeling like the same old
playbook, like we just talkedabout, but Canva just reminded
(16:48):
us there's another way to do it,francesca.
So they're valued at $42billion, and Canva ran an
employee share sale that letcurrent and even former
employees cash out on stockbefore the company goes public.
So overnight millionaires weremade not just for founders or
top executives, but for peopleacross all of the teams who
(17:10):
helped build it.
Why this matters.
It's not just a big payday forthem.
It's a statement about howsuccess gets shared.
As we were just talking about,where most IPO headlines are
celebrating investors andleadership, canva is really
spreading the wealth across allemployees who were part of
making them win in themarketplace.
So we've been seeing the broIPO wave, as we just talked
(17:32):
about open AI.
Everything's looking the same,but Canva is showing that
there's a different path, andone where employees aren't just
the footnote of the conversation, but they're central to their
whole story.
That's a differentiator.
If you're an employee.
This is a reminder to payattention to equity and
ownership in your company,especially if you're looking at
startups, because that structurecould change your life.
(17:53):
And if you're an executive,follow Canva, because they're
doing it.
That is all.
That is all I got.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
I love.
It All right, stop All right.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
This episode was produced, edited and all things
by us myself, mel Plett andFrancesca Ranieri.
Our music is by Pink Zebra andif you like this, please rate
and subscribe.
We'd really appreciate it.
That helps keep us going.
Take care, friends.
Bye, friends.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.