When your startup hits $1 million in annual run rate within six months and investors are eager to participate, the last thing you need is complicated equity management software that demands more attention than it deserves. The Mintable, a fast-growing manager training platform, discovered that sometimes the best solution isn't the one with the most features. It's the one that simply works.
After experiencing the complexity of enterprise equity management through Carta, co-founder Lauren Humphrey made the switch to Cake Equity and never looked back. The migration took just 15 minutes of her time, and the platform now handles the company's cross-border equity needs across both US and Australian operations without friction.
Mintable launched in 2021 with an ambitious mission to enable and upskill managers through software and training services. The company's rapid growth validated the market need—within just six months, Mintable achieved a $1 million annual run rate, attracting investor attention and raising two rounds of capital.
As a dual-entity structure with a US parent company and Australian subsidiary, Mintable manages both a US equity plan and an Australian Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP) for their distributed team. This cross-border complexity required an equity management solution that could handle multiple jurisdictions without adding administrative burden.
Co-founder Lauren Humphrey brings firsthand experience with equity's motivational power, having previously held stakes in successful startups like Gusto and Brightly. These experiences shaped Mintable's commitment to making equity meaningful and transparent for their own team.
Mintable initially used Carta for equity management but the platform's extensive feature set quickly became more of a hindrance than help.
"Carta has a lot of bells and whistles, but I didn't actually really need any of them. All I wanted was core features and use, but it was really hard to navigate, and I feel like it kept trying to make me get stuff that I just did not want."
For a founder focused on building a business and raising capital during a period of explosive growth, navigating Carta's complexity consumed time that should have been spent on strategic priorities. The constant upselling and difficult navigation created friction at precisely the wrong time.
Lauren's requirements were straightforward: something easy to use, great for investors, and great for employees. The enterprise-grade solution, ironically, made these basic needs harder to meet.
Lauren's search for an alternative led her to Cake Equity, and the decision quickly validated itself. What distinguished Cake wasn't just its features, it was the philosophy of making equity management genuinely accessible.
"I just want something that's really easy to use and great for my investors and great for my employees. And so decided to make the switch to cake. And it is a piece of cake."
Despite concerns about timing, the migration exceeded all expectations.
"I didn't really have a ton of time, and so I was really stressed about moving from Carta to Cake. And it was so easy. All I had to do was physically upload some data to the folks at Cake, and they did all of the onboarding for me. So for me, it probably took 15 minutes."
The Cake team handled the heavy lifting of the migration, allowing Lauren to simply provide the necessary data and return to running her business. This white-glove approach transformed what could have been a weeks-long distraction into just 15 minutes of her time.
An unexpected benefit emerged immediately: many of The Mintable's investors already use Cake, creating instant familiarity and reducing onboarding friction.
"It was also really exciting because so many of my investors now use Cake. So for them, I just sent an email. And for many of them, they just said, oh, cool. All we've actually got to do is go into our cake dashboard and we can access them as well. So it was super smooth."
This ecosystem effect meant investors could immediately access their investment information through a platform they already knew, eliminating the learning curve and building confidence in The Mintable's professional approach to governance.
The Mintable's dual-entity structure posed technical challenges that Cake handled seamlessly.
"We are a U.S. entity with an Australian subsidiary, and we have both an equity plan for the US and an ESOP for our Australian employees. And so Cake is able to enable us to handle and manage both, which is really great."
This multi-jurisdiction capability allowed them to maintain a single platform for their global equity management, avoiding the fragmentation and complexity of managing separate systems for each entity.
The Mintable's switch to Cake delivered measurable improvements across three critical dimensions:
The migration required just 15 minutes of Lauren's time to upload data, while Cake's team handled the complete onboarding and migration process. This meant she could stay focused on business growth while the technical work happened in the background. The ongoing time savings from Cake's intuitive interface continue to compound with every equity transaction, investor update, and employee inquiry.
Investors gained self-service access to their data, eliminating repetitive reporting requests.
"One of the unsexy parts of being a founder is there's a lot of reporting that your investors have to do. And so, it's just really nice that they now have access to the right data."
This transparency reduced Lauren's administrative burden while improving investor satisfaction—a rare win-win in startup operations.
Mintable's team now has clear visibility into their equity holdings through Cake's employee dashboard, transforming equity from an abstract concept into a tangible part of their compensation.
"It's also really helpful to know that employees and investors can just easily get data themselves."
The platform's educational resources help team members understand liquidity, taxes, and the value of their holdings, making equity more motivating rather than mysterious.
Lauren's personal experience with equity compensation at companies like Gusto and Brightly shaped Mintable's approach to team ownership.
"Having a stake in businesses like Gusto and Brightly definitely made it more motivating. I really felt ownership towards the business and excited to be a part of it. Even now when Gusto or Brightly announce things, I feel still very excited and want to support those businesses. So yeah, I think it can be incredibly motivating."
This firsthand understanding of equity's power informs how Lauren approaches compensation and transparency with their own team.
The key to equity's motivational value lies in understanding, something that requires the right tools and education.
"A lot of times equity can be quite mysterious and black box, and that can actually make it sort of counter motivating. So just I think the dashboards for me are really helpful."
By providing clear visibility and educational resources, The Mintable ensures their equity offerings deliver the intended motivational impact rather than creating confusion or frustration.
"Any time you can enable employees to visualize their stake and better understand it, and some education also around liquidity and taxes, is always really helpful!
Lauren sees equity as creating lasting emotional investment in a company's success.
"When you have that kind of stake in a company and that kind of ownership mentality, I think it definitely just hooks you on the startup journey."
This philosophy extends beyond immediate financial returns to building teams that remain invested in the company's mission long-term.
The Mintable's experience demonstrates a counterintuitive truth in the equity management space: sometimes less is more. By choosing a platform designed for simplicity over enterprise complexity, Lauren freed herself to focus on what actually matters.
For startups managing cross-border equity, serving distributed teams, and balancing rapid growth with professional governance, this story offers valuable lessons. The right equity management platform shouldn't demand attention. It should fade into the background, working seamlessly so founders can concentrate on their core mission.
With Cake handling their equity infrastructure across both US and Australian operations, The Mintable can maintain the momentum that took them to $1 million run rate in just six months, confident that their equity management scales effortlessly alongside their growth.
This article is designed and intended to provide general information in summary form on general topics. The material may not apply to all jurisdictions. The contents do not constitute legal, financial or tax advice. The contents is not intended to be a substitute for such advice and should not be relied upon as such. If you would like to chat with a lawyer, please get in touch and we can introduce you to one of our very friendly legal partners.
