Executive Compensation for Private Company CEOs and Business Owners Paperback – March 10, 2014

I really wanted this book to be good - a simple, practical guide for executive comp in private companies. But it's largely generalities with a few useful tips. Realistically, it's probably more of a marketing tool. There isn't 1 tangible, practical example to be found in the book. Chapter 12 on NQDC plans started strong and I thought maybe I would get the substance I was looking for. But after a few vague bullet points it was over. Example: The authors are discussing some of the benefits of NQDC plans. "Companies can choose from among several funding vehicles". Like what?!?!? "Plans allow the company to build an asset, thereby strengthening its balance sheet." How?Unfortunately this book was not really helpful.

Interesting book.

Superficial only generalities.

Everyone knows that compensating today's best executives, appropriately, is the key to, not only attracting and retaining them, but also incentivising the appropriate performance and behavior. This is no easy task, as executive compensation is as much of an art as a science. As the author of several books, including "Human Resources Software Handbook" (John Wiley Publishing), I have grown to appreciate authors who are able to take challenging subject matter and make it easily understandable for the reader. Authors Comp and Smith have done just that. This critical book goes a long way in taking the mystique out of executive compensation, getting key stakeholders on the same page and helping them to facilitate timely and appropriate decisions related to all aspects of executive compensation.

In my role coaching CEOs and business owners, the topic of Executive Compensation usually comes up when we focus on creating high performance enterprises. Often though, the conversation is very one-dimensional—focusing on pay. Comp and Smith clearly, concisely and engagingly show that compensation is a three-dimensional solution. The salient tips and tools are a 30,000 foot view for those that want a primer and great starting point for those that want a guide to dive in deeper. Just as important, as a coach, is having two great resources for my clients looking for customized solutions for their individual executive compensation challenges--Comp and Smith are my go-to team. – Mike Grover, TAB Santa Clarita

As a seasoned senior executive in both public and private companies, but a "virgin" CEO of a private start-up, I found Larry Comp and Steve Smith to be invaluable resources in aiding our strategic C-level and next level comp program development. While I had the benefit of hiring them in this capacity, I subsequently read their book: Executive Compensation for Private Company CEO's and Business Owners, and found it to be an invaluably complimentary tool for the collaborative changes their consultation provided our burgeoning company.I knew the importance of getting comp plans aligned for the benefit of top talent attraction and retention - but the book enabled specific key decisions around our most challenging issues: Clarification of Roles (as detailed in Chapter 4) and Selecting and Aligning Performance Goals (as expertly discussed in Chapter 9).This book should be on the office shelf of every senior executive with influence over the strategy that bolsters the hiring of key team members in their private companies!

As an executive search consultant in a highly competitive sector (Life Sciences), I need to be well versed on today’s executive compensation principles, practices and design alternatives. Larry’s and Steve’s book does an exceptional job of taking complex subject matter and making it both interesting and understandable. I will keep this book at my fingertips as a key resource. Well done!

As a member of our senior leadership team, I have had an opportunity to work closely with our board of directors on planning and analysis around sensitive executive compensation matters. Larry’s and Steve’s book helped me to get my head around this difficult subject. This was very helpful in facilitating related “go forward” decisions.