Trees Don't Grow to the Sky: 2026 ESOP Update

Once a year, all EVers from across Empowered Ventures gather for the ESOP Update, where we reveal the new share price, review the last year, and rally for the year ahead. After this year's update, Chris Fredericks and Casey Grisez sat down to dig into a few topics from it a little further. They talk through a year with some headwinds, the record payout to former EVers that shows the system works, and why most accounts kept growing even in a softer year. From there, it's all about what we can control. Chris walks through his Ownership in Action framework and answers questions from EVers, including how to promote our sister companies and how the share price gets set, with the help of a very successful lemonade stand. Chris closes with a line from our colleague Mike Algrim: pilots take off into the wind. Want to get really nerdy about valuation? Listen to last year's episode here: https://empowered.ventures/2025/09/23.... Edited by Mateusz Złakowski