Yesterday I had a lot of back and forth with POET management. I shared my view that I felt the SP was being penalized because I think most people including me felt that the options were repriced too low.  Here we have had the best news this company has ever released re Foxconn. The best announcement in the company's history and the shareprice is languishing.  I think  many see the repriced option to $1.75 as an indication that the company is not expecting much commercial progress. But there is a lot more to this story. 

At the time of the repricing, there was not a single director, executive or employee with any equity value in the company.  The average exercise price of all the options outstanding is C$4.82.   The executive team is even higher with an average of C$5.05.

Options are critically important to retain and attract talent to any technology company, but most especially small companies that cannot afford to pay market rates in salaries for senior executives and scarce engineering talent.  Without this talent there is no company.  Our top people have already been approached by larger companies attempting to poach them into positions with higher pay and benefits.  AND OPTIONS.  That is why we termed this a “COMPENSATION EMERGENCY”.  No one with any talent works only for a salary – not in high tech.

TRUST ME when I tell you that the absolute best thing any shareholder can do to incentivize the senior management team to stick with POET and to make that share price happen is to vote YES on the option proposal. 

The options are provided with the FOREMOST intent of recruiting and keeping talent.  That's it.  It is not so anyone on the executive management team can get rich quick.  It is part of our compensation since we do not pay CASH bonuses in the company and have not for years.  Currently the unsaid rule of not exercising options at POET means that the stock options are an incentive to LEAVE the company and not stick with it.   People who have left the company, people that have been let go, people that have been divested – have made more money on all our backs than the people that have stuck with the company and trying in earnest to transform it.  Let that sink in for a moment.