TLDR Tech / Fintech
SaaS faces reality check on stock-based compensation
The SaaS industry long treated stock-based compensation as a non-economic expense, but declining valuations are exposing it as a real cost borne by shareholders through dilution. As AI-driven disruption pressures revenue durability and compresses valuations, employees now see reduced RSU payouts as pay cuts, forcing companies to choose between higher dilution or talent attrition. The shift is pushing a broader reckoning toward treating SBC as a true operating expense rather than an adjusted add-back.
Read the full story