What is vesting?
Vesting is earning ownership of granted shares or options over time, often four years with a one-year cliff. Under that schedule, a quarter of the grant vests after the first year and the rest vests in small monthly portions over the next three years. If the person leaves, unvested equity typically returns to the option pool for future hires.
Why it matters to a revenue leader
Vesting turns equity into a retention tool, and that matters in sales, where good sellers and managers are recruited constantly. A revenue leader should know where key people sit on their vesting schedules, because a fully vested top seller has less financial reason to stay. Vesting also shapes recruiting: a candidate walking away from unvested equity will ask to be made whole.
Example
Fictitious numbersA sales manager receives 48,000 options on a four-year schedule with a one-year cliff. At month 12, 12,000 options vest at once, and 1,000 vest each month after that. If the manager leaves at month 10, nothing has vested and all 48,000 options return to the pool.
"Which of our top sellers and managers are fully vested or close to it?"
Sources
- Vesting Explained: Schedules, Cliffs, Acceleration, and Types checked 9 Oct 2026
- Cliff Vesting - Definition, Example, Importance checked 9 Oct 2026