Team ESOP Guide
You build Hyro. You own a piece of it.
Everyone who helps build Hyro gets options. Options become shares. Shares mean that when Hyro wins, you win too. This page shows how it all works, then lets you play with the numbers. 🚀
How it works, in plain words
Five minutes, no jargon. Here is the whole story.
You get granted options 🎟️
Think of an option as a claim ticket. Each option becomes one share of Hyro. Hold options, and you hold a piece of the company's future.
They become yours over 4 years 🌱
This is called vesting. You earn your options pro rata across the full 4 years, but the first chunk is delivered at the 12-month mark: that 25% is simply your first year's worth, arriving in one go. From then on you are always vested in line with time served (18 months in = 37.5%), with a bit more becoming yours every 3 months until you own the lot. One thing to know: leave before month 12 and nothing has vested yet.
Always on top of salary
Options are extra. They are never a swap for pay. Your salary is set and reviewed on its own, at market rates.
The honest bit
What your options end up being worth depends on how Hyro performs. The value can go up, down, or to zero. You also can't sell until an exit event, which means a sale of the company or an IPO.
And tax is your own homework: options sit under Australian employee share scheme (ESS) rules, and everyone's situation is different. Please get your own advice.
Which level are you?
Five levels cover every role at Hyro. Read the right-hand column and pick the one that sounds like your job.
| Level | Years experience | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Coordinator / Entry | 0 to 2 | You execute tasks with guidance from someone more senior. |
| Specialist / Manager | 2 to 5 | You own an area day to day and work independently. |
| Senior / Team Lead | 5 to 8 | You own outcomes and lead projects or people. |
| Head of Function | 8+ | You own a whole function: its strategy, team and results. |
| Executive | 10+ | You are accountable for company-level results. |
Swipe the table sideways to read everything.
Today's grant ranges
Every range is a percentage of the whole company. Find your level and your function group, and that's your range.
| Level | Tech & ProductEngineering, data, product, design | Growth & MarketingBrand, social, performance, creative | Operations & CommercialOps, supply chain, CS, finance, admin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coordinator / Entry | 0.078 to 0.156% | 0.063 to 0.125% | 0.050 to 0.100% |
| Specialist / Manager | 0.156 to 0.313% | 0.125 to 0.250% | 0.100 to 0.200% |
| Senior / Team Lead | 0.313 to 0.625% | 0.250 to 0.500% | 0.200 to 0.400% |
| Head of Function | 0.625 to 1.563% | 0.500 to 1.250% | 0.400 to 1.000% |
| Executive | 1.563 to 4.688% | 1.250 to 3.750% | 1.000 to 3.000% |
Swipe the table sideways to see all three function groups.
Ranges reflect Hyro's size today and will step down as the team grows. Benchmarks informed by Carta, Index Ventures OptionPlan, Pave and Cake Equity data.
How your exact grant is sized
Three steps. Same for everyone.
Your range
Your level and function group give you a range from the table above. That's the starting point.
Your spot in it
Two scores decide where you land: performance in role (1 to 5) and living the Hyro values (1 to 5). Added together, they place you low, middle or top.
Board sign-off
The Board approves the final number and it goes into your grant documents. Done.
Think of it like pizza 🍕
On grant day we count every share and option that exists (1,950,712 right now) and lock in your percentage of it. Your number of options never shrinks. Those slices are yours.
When Hyro raises money, new slices get added for investors, so your percentage gets a little thinner. That's normal. It happens to the founders too. The whole plan: make the pizza grow so much faster than the slicing that your slices keep getting more valuable.
One more thing: your grant is one total award that vests over 4 years, not a yearly payment. New grants come with promotions, bigger scope, or exceptional impact.
Where the options live
Hyro has two option pools. Real numbers as at 15 August 2026. Hover or tap the charts.
Management Option pool
Hyro Option pool
Pools get topped up at funding rounds, so headroom refreshes as Hyro grows. Individual holdings stay private.
Estimate a typical grant
Pick a role and see what the framework produces. The scores are assessed at grant time, not self-assessed, so treat this as a play tool, not an offer.
What could yours be worth?
Slide things around and watch the numbers move. All of it is play modelling, none of it is a promise.
The journey
How your grant lands over 4 years
2,438 options in the real world
This table follows the options number in the calculator above. A grant of 2,438 options is 0.125% of Hyro today. Here is what that slice is worth as the company grows.
| Company valuation | Value of 2,438 options (0.125%) |
|---|---|
| A$18m (today) | ≈ A$22.5k |
| A$50m | ≈ A$62k |
| A$100m | ≈ A$125k |
| A$250m | ≈ A$312k |
| A$500m | ≈ A$625k |
| A$1b | ≈ A$1.2m |
Simple percentage maths: value = 0.125% × valuation, before future dilution. Use the calculator above to model dilution.
The fine print (please read it)
- Everything on this page is illustrative only. It is not financial advice, not a valuation, and not a promise. Option value is not guaranteed and may be nil.
- The Plan Rules win. If anything here conflicts with the Hyro ESOP Plan Rules or your grant documents, those documents win.
- Every grant needs Board approval and is formally documented via Cake Equity.
- Options are on top of salary, never instead of it. Salary is reviewed separately on market terms.
- Tax: grants sit under Australian employee share scheme (ESS) rules. Get your own independent financial and tax advice.
- Options are illiquid until an exit event such as a sale or IPO. There is no market for selling private company shares before then.
- If you leave Hyro, unvested options generally lapse, and the treatment of vested options follows the Plan Rules.
- Questions? Talk to Steve. 💬