CMO Confidential – "Dissecting Compensation: A Primer on Understanding, Negotiating and Managing Pay"

Host: Mike Linton
Guest: Richard Sanderson (Spencer Stewart, Practice Leader)
Date: October 8, 2025
Episode Focus: A deep dive into executive compensation—what CMOs and aspiring leaders need to know about pay structures, negotiation techniques, and managing the complexities of high-level compensation.

Episode Overview

Mike Linton, veteran CMO, sits down with four-time guest and executive recruiter Richard Sanderson to demystify the world of C-suite compensation—salary, bonus, equity, and the negotiation tactics around them. The conversation is a hands-on guide for marketing leaders who want to maximize their earnings and make informed career moves, especially in a world where compensation can be opaque, confusing, and company-specific.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Mystery and Anxiety Around Compensation

• Open Conversation is Rare: "It's a topic that everyone thinks about... but it's not often discussed in the open." — Mike Linton [02:27]
• Lack of Public Information: Richard points out that, among the Fortune 1000, only about 4% list marketing leaders among their top-compensated executives, making benchmarks hard to find.
  • “Of 1,000 proxy statements... we can only find references to marketing leaders at 41 of those.” — Richard Sanderson [04:14]
• Roles are Often Broader Than 'Just Marketing': High CMO pay is frequently tied to additional responsibilities: “These may be the CMO pluses... Revenue chief, Commercial chief, growth.” — Richard Sanderson [04:33]

2. Dissecting the Building Blocks of Compensation

Base Salary

• The Anchor: "Your base salary... is nearly always open to negotiation when you change roles." — Richard Sanderson [05:17]
• Company & Industry Norms Matter: For example, financial services may pay a lower base but higher bonus; salary bands set the limits at many companies [06:43].

Bonus

• Hard to Negotiate: "Bonuses is actually probably the hardest bit to negotiate on because they are set percentages of base salaries." — Richard Sanderson [06:43]
• Ask About History: The most useful question: "What has been the bonus payout history over the last three years?" [07:19]

Equity

• The Real Wealth Builder: Mike states: "Really where you make... a lot of money is in the equity piece." [08:25]
• Complexity and Structure: Equity varies by company type (public, private, nonprofit), geography (US leans into equity more than Europe), and instrument.

3. Primer on Types of Equity [10:36]

• Restricted Stock Units (RSUs): Direct allocation, always worth something unless the stock is worthless. Vesting timelines apply.
• Options: More risky. Only valuable if stock is above the strike price. "If the stock goes down... you're $1 underwater." — Mike Linton [12:08]
• Performance Share Units (PSUs): Equity that depends on company targets — can be worth 0–200% of grant depending on performance.
• Vesting Mechanisms:
  • Time-based: Most common (used to be 3-year cliff, now faster or even monthly vesting is possible in tech). “You are running out the clock... cliff vest at three years.” — Richard Sanderson [14:12]
  • Performance-based: Linked to KPIs like revenue, profitability, earnings per share.
  • Event-based: E.g., IPO, acquisition triggers.

4. How and When to Negotiate Compensation

Timing

• Don’t Lead With Comp — But Don’t Wait Too Long:
  • "If you start asking about compensation too early, you risk coming across as overly focused just on the money... if you leave the conversation too late, you may be wasting time." — Richard Sanderson [18:08]
• Negotiation Theory: Setting the first number is powerful but risky; must be reasonable.

Compensation & Pay Equity Laws

• History Can’t Always Be Asked: Thanks to state-level laws, recruiters often can’t ask for comp history; they must ask for expectations or about “forfeitures” (value you would lose by leaving).
  • "Recruiters... are actually prohibited [from] asking about compensation history. Instead, now... trying to ask about expectations, not about history." — Richard Sanderson [19:05]

Understanding Forfeitures

• Unrealized Bonuses and Equity: Figure out what you’ll give up if you take a new job (unvested grants, deferred bonuses, etc.).
  • "What is it worth? Over what period of time? When is it going to vest? If you leave, are you giving it up?" — Richard Sanderson [21:18]

Best Practices

• Know Your Package: “Know how you get paid. Know how your company rules are in terms of vesting bonus...” — Mike Linton [22:42]
• Get Savvy in the Discussion:
  • “A savvy candidate will actually turn the question around... ‘do they have a range they are thinking about for this job?’” — Mike Linton [23:31]
• Information Asymmetry: Recruiters know more—your job is to close the gap without overreaching.
• Recruiters’ Priority: “Recruiters... are paid by clients, they're not paid by candidates. And so they want to do what's right by the client.” — Richard Sanderson [24:20]

5. The Moment of Highest Leverage [25:03]

• The One Big Ask: After you’re chosen and receive the verbal offer, that’s "your moment of highest leverage... they want you. They want to make it work..." — Richard Sanderson [25:22]
• Be Direct, But Be Reasonable: Make your best request at that point; “There is typically one round of negotiation.” — Richard Sanderson [25:03]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Data Scarcity:
  “Only 4% of companies have a marketing officer as one of their top five compensated employees...” — Richard Sanderson [04:14]
• On Compensation Mix:
  “The more traditionally understood is this sense of either restricted stock, units, options, equity... the mix bit is important...” — Richard Sanderson [09:04]
• On Negotiating Smart:
  “A savvy candidate will actually turn the question around on me... ‘do they have a range?’” — Richard Sanderson [23:31]
• On Leverage:
  “That is your moment as a candidate... your greatest moment of leverage." — Richard Sanderson [25:22]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:27] — The social and business stigma around openly discussing compensation
• [04:14] — Scarcity of public comp data for CMOs
• [06:43] — How companies approach base salaries and bonuses (salary bands, payout histories)
• [08:25] — The centrality of equity in senior compensation
• [10:36] — Types of equity: RSUs, options, performance share units, vesting
• [16:57] — How and when to negotiate: timing, forfeitures, state pay equity laws, ‘the anchor’
• [22:42] — Best practices: understand your own package, smart expectation setting
• [25:22] — “The big ask” and the leverage point in negotiation

Tone and Style

Conversational and candid, with a teacherly edge. Mike is pragmatic and direct; Richard is thorough and data-driven but never stuffy. They share stories and insider knowledge with good-natured humor, especially about the awkwardness and high stakes of comp negotiation.

Summary for Non-Listeners

This episode of CMO Confidential is a must-hear for CMOs and marketing leaders navigating the (often confusing and opaque) world of compensation. Mike and Richard break down every element—salary, bonus, equity—and offer expert advice on negotiation, the timing of your asks, understanding what you give up when you leave a job, and how to handle recruiters’ questions with poise. Real-world anecdotes, blunt facts about the lack of CMO comp data, and practical frameworks make this primer vital for anyone looking to maximize offer packages and avoid common pitfalls.