But because the potential upside of options awarded by companies tends to be bigger than that of the stock, younger companies are likely to continue to see them as an important tool for motivation.
And for candidates with an appetite for risk there is no question that there is a big upside with options.
The upside of stock options has been well-chronicled in recent years.
After all, notes William F. Lee, the managing partner of Hale & Dorr in Boston, "we could never pay people enough" to match the upside of stock options.
Without the financial upside those stock options represent, Google employees will start looking elsewhere.
To him, the 3-legged stool is all upside "and the option to connect instantly to people, devices, programs, and information becomes" not only "a reality" but an annuity.
Not only were the companies' founders sitting on a potential pot of gold in their equity, employees also got in on the possible upside by holding stock options.
But a survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in Washington, DC, suggests that although user-generated information offers consumers more health options, the upside outweighs the risk, says Pew's Susannah Fox.
It is elegantly simple, featuring modest base salaries and bonuses, significant upside potential via stock options that promote shareholder value creation, little to no downside protection in the form of severance arrangements, and a required personal investment in the company.
"Many of these employees joined largely because of the perceived upside in the stock option value," said Jim Breyer, the managing partner at Accel Partners, a venture capital company in Palo Alto, Calif.
