Todd Defren and Jim Joyal had built a company together.
Shift Communications had grown from a small PR startup to a company of 110 employees, with offices in Boston, New York, and San Francisco. They’d won a suite of awards, were doing strong revenue, and were beginning to receive overtures from larger companies about a possible acquisition. The only problem was that Defren and Joyal had “asymmetrical motivations,” as Defren puts it. Joyal was over a decade older and ready to start thinking about estate planning. Defren felt he had years of work ahead of him. So Defren and Joyal began to strategize about possible ways Joyal could convert most of his ownership into cash.
To read the original article: Why You Should Give (Part Of) Your Company To Your Employees | Fast Company | Business + Innovation
