As part of going public, Confluent senior management and a cross-functional team put together a comprehensive equity strategy and technology-enabled communication program to ensure employees were aligned with new investors and shared in the opportunities afforded by their IPO. Confluent decided to allow employees holding vested stock options and Confluent common stock the ability to sell a portion of their holdings through an early lockup release (“ELR”) offer. This ELR offer, coupled with the launch of an ESPP and the implementation of a new stock administration system, required expert project management and flawless employee/stakeholder communication to ensure success.