We are happy to announce that when our customers talk with a RunSignup employee, they are talking with a real company owner.
All employees have had stock options, but RunSignup was able to take an important step forward in June, 2025 by granting real shares to every employee. The stock awards are proportional to salary, but every full time employee will receive at least 1,000 shares of the company stock.
This makes RunSignup a truly Employee Owned company with no need for outside investors.
Shares vs. Options
Many technology companies offer options to employees, and RunSignup began that program in 2018. The advantage of options to the employee is that there are no tax consequences, and if it makes sense to purchase their shares in the future (typically people hope for an acquisition at a higher price than they got their options at), then they share in the growth of value in the company stock.
RunSignup is a bit different in that we have no intention of selling the company. Hence the value that an employee would get from paying the option price and converting an option to a share is to receive a dividend stream. Now that RunSignup has a solid financial position, we have begun paying dividends, however the economics might not make sense for everyone.
We have a very strong desire to make sure every person at the company views themselves as a long term part of something greater. Where their efforts contribute to building great technology and supporting customers and continuing to attract new customers to grow the business. Hence, we decided to make it simple – give everyone some real stock.
With the real stock, employees will begin to receive dividends. If the company grows and is successful and we operate efficiently, then those dividends will grow over time, providing a positive feedback loop to work hard and keep learning and adapting to our customers and technology trends.
Tax Costs – Paid by RunSignup
When stock is granted to an employee, that is a taxable event. Each year, the company has an independent 409A valuation done that puts a value on a share of stock. So if an employee receives 1,000 shares, that goes on their W2 at 1,000 times the 409A valuation (we are open, but not quite that open).
To help employees make this as close to tax free as possible, the company will calculate a bonus which is meant to cover the taxes for the value of the shares plus the value of the bonus. This is a real cost to the company, but we have been running ahead of plan so far in 2025 and have decided to use some of that over achievement on this cash expense.
Real Shares – Even if People Leave the Company
One of the reasons that some companies give options is that they vest over time, so it encourages people to stay so their options vest. This grant is in real shares. This means that if employees leave in July, they keep their shares and continue to receive dividends. This is fair since these people helped build the company to this point.
We have a history of trust and longevity in our team. As an example, we have 17 people who have been a part of RunSignup for 10 years. Our team has a total of 470 years of being a part of the RunSignup team. The level of knowledge, expertise and trust in each other is a key factor to our success.
Annual Share Grant Program
We have also announced to the team that we will continue an annual grant program. This means employees will own a larger and larger % of the company in the future. This is in addition to salary, performance bonus, profit sharing bonus, 401K matching, full payment of insurance premiums, HSA contribution and other benefits.
Summary
Our Employee Owned company is focused on building a long term company that builds great, cost effective technology bundled with the support needed for customer success.