Create an Employee Stock Option Plan
Setting up a stock option plan lets you offer equity to your team without issuing shares upfront. This article covers how to create your option pool, configure pool settings, and attach your plan documents.
Create your option pool
Go to Plans → Options from the left navigation bar.
If this is your first incentive plan: Click + Add equity plan, then select Add Option pool.
If you already have an option pool and are adding another: Click + New option pool.
Configure your pool settings:
Plan name: enter a name for your new option plan
Pool size: enter the percentage of equity for your option plan
Board approval (US only): toggle whether you wish to handle board approval through Cake before issuing all grants
Advanced Mode (optional), expand to set a specific number of options, different share class and trust nomination settings (AU only)
Click Next.
Select plan documents
Choose your plan documents:
Plan Rules: select from Cake's templates or upload your own
Offer Letter Templates: select from Cake's templates or add custom documents
You can also skip this step and add documents later.
Click Next to finalize your option plan.
What happens next
Your option pool is now active and ready for option grants. Go to Plans → Options to view the pool, create grants, and track vesting progress across your team.
Local variations
United States
Board approval can be enabled at the Plan level to ensure all new grants sent for signing through Cake will have a Board Consent sent for signature first.
Australia
Trust nomination settings (allowing options to be held in a family trust) are available under Advanced Mode for AU accounts, configure these at the pool level or override on individual grants.