A Novel Approach to Startup Recruiting: Lower the Stock Price

Instacart Inc., once one of Silicon Valley’s most highly valued startups, took an unusual step on Thursday in what it said was an effort to retain and recruit talent. It lowered its own valuation by about 40%.

The move bucks long-held operating procedure in the tech industry, which is to use lucrative stock options to attract the best and brightest. But these days, no company is immune to the volatility sparked by high inflation, rising interest rates and the potential for a recession. Other public companies, particularly those that were pandemic darlings like DoorDash Inc., Etsy Inc. and ...