I'm suffering from a quarter life crisis (I'm 20.) I think a lot of people do. They just never talk about it.
It takes different things/approaches to motivate people. For me, inspirational speeches work really well or knowing that your manager is actually interested in your work.
However, it does sounds kinda odd that he didn't take the equity... He might just be an immature person that doesn't want to take responsibility. And this could be for various reasons completely outside the work environment that you have very little control over.
I think that just talking to him and asking what's up and what's going on is the best solution. Maybe he just needs a wake up call? The sincere, "I'm worried. What's up?" usually works pretty well?
It's sloppy thinking to equate taking equity and showing responsibility. There are plenty of reasons to turn down equity in favor of a higher salary, and many of them have nothing to do with a lack of responsibility.
That said, I agree that talking to him is the best solution, at least for a first step. If nothing else, it shows that his output is noticed, and that what he does is important. Even if he doesn't give you a solid answer to the ? "What's up?", he knows that you've noticed his output tailing off. This gives him a good chance to self correct, and can avoid a more difficult conversation down the road. Plus, these conversations are far cheaper than an equity grant or a raise. Talk to the kid and see if things clear up in a couple of weeks.
I'm really lucky to live in Waterloo, Ontario. There's a provider called Yak that offers unlimited bandwidth, non-throttled DSL up to 10MB for $60 a month (comes with non-voip phone line and 5 calling features).
They have their own DSL centers and hence aren't going to be affected by this new proposition. I think we might see more companies starting their own DSL centers.
It takes different things/approaches to motivate people. For me, inspirational speeches work really well or knowing that your manager is actually interested in your work.
However, it does sounds kinda odd that he didn't take the equity... He might just be an immature person that doesn't want to take responsibility. And this could be for various reasons completely outside the work environment that you have very little control over.
I think that just talking to him and asking what's up and what's going on is the best solution. Maybe he just needs a wake up call? The sincere, "I'm worried. What's up?" usually works pretty well?