[tptacek]

What's the difference? The "valuation" of a talent acquisition is about retaining talent. No matter what your shares are worth on paper, your outcome is going to be the same; if the paper itself doesn't say so, the retention grant will.

Why would a company do a "talent acquisition" at all if the best team members were immediately going to leave for a better upside elsewhere?

Similarly, if the outcome for the company is "talent acquisition", the outcome for an employee who leaves before that exit is probably zero.