David Cane
About David Cane
David Cane, 42, is Wag! Group Co.’s Chief Customer Officer, responsible for end-to-end customer and caregiver experience across all touchpoints; he has held the CCO role since July 2021 after joining Wag! in September 2019 and rising through Customer Support and Customer Experience/Trust & Safety leadership roles . He studied Industrial/Organizational Psychology at Middle Tennessee State University and previously led large-scale onshore/offshore operations at Comcast, The Home Depot, and Uber/Xchange Leasing . Company policies prohibit executive hedging/pledging and margin account holdings, reinforcing alignment with shareholders, and the compensation committee oversees executive stock ownership guidelines (details undisclosed) .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role/Function | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comcast | Led onshore and offshore operations | 2008–2011 | Large-scale CX/ops leadership in a complex service environment |
| The Home Depot | Led onshore and offshore operations | 2013–2017 | Multi-site operations leadership and process scale-up |
| Uber and Xchange Leasing | Led operations | 2017–2019 | Rapid-growth marketplace operations and customer experience |
| Wag! Group Co. | Senior Director, Customer Support → VP, Customer Experience/Trust & Safety → Chief Customer Officer | 2019–present | Progressively expanded CX remit; CCO since July 2021 overseeing end-to-end customer and caregiver experience |
External Roles
- Not disclosed in the company’s proxy filings for David Cane. (No external directorships or committee roles identified) .
Fixed Compensation
- Individual compensation for David Cane is not disclosed because Wag! reports compensation only for its “Named Executive Officers” (CEO, President/CPO, CTO) as an emerging growth company/smaller reporting company; the proxy includes only those NEOs in the Summary Compensation Table .
- The company notes no executive-specific perquisite programs; benefits provided to NEOs are on the same basis as employees (medical, 401(k) match, etc.) .
Performance Compensation
Company design and signals (NEO framework; Cane’s specific plan not disclosed):
- Shift from options to RSUs post-merger; 2024 NEO incentive RSUs included an acceleration feature tied to revenue and adjusted EBITDA targets, which were not met (no acceleration) .
- RSU vesting schedules for NEOs include multi-year service-based vesting; acceleration can occur under certain conditions or change-in-control treatment per the 2022 Plan .
| Metric/Plan Element (NEOs, 2024) | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout/Impact | Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RSU acceleration performance condition (Revenue & Adj. EBITDA) | Not disclosed | Accelerate vesting by up to 1 year if 2024 targets achieved | Targets not met | No acceleration | RSUs vest on 2/18/2026 per grant terms |
Note: Table reflects company-wide NEO design; Cane’s individual performance metrics/awards are not disclosed .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Hedging, pledging, short sales, and holding shares in margin accounts are prohibited for executives/directors under the insider trading policy, enhancing alignment .
- Compensation committee approves and oversees stock ownership guidelines for executive officers (policy exists; specific multiples/requirements not disclosed) .
- Change-in-control treatment: Under the 2022 Plan, if awards are not assumed or substituted by a successor, restrictions on employee awards lapse (accelerated vesting) .
- Post-proxy capital structure risk: On July 21, 2025, Wag! announced a prepackaged Chapter 11 plan under which all existing equity interests (including common stock, RSUs, options, and warrants) would be canceled and 100% of the reorganized equity would be issued to the lender, Retriever LLC, upon effectiveness—materially impacting any existing executive equity .
| Ownership/Alignment Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Individual equity ownership (Cane) | Not disclosed in proxy |
| Execs & Directors as a group (14 persons) | 11,545,559 shares; 20.7% of outstanding (denominator 50,739,113) as of 4/17/2025 |
| Hedging/Pledging | Prohibited (short sales, derivatives, pledging, margin accounts) |
| Stock ownership guidelines | Committee oversees executive ownership guidelines; specifics not disclosed |
| CIC treatment (employee awards) | If not assumed/substituted, restrictions lapse under the 2022 Plan |
| Recapitalization/bankruptcy plan | All existing equity interests to be canceled at plan effectiveness; reorganized equity to Retriever LLC |
Employment Terms
| Term | Detail |
|---|---|
| Start at Wag! | Joined September 2019; promoted to VP December 2019; CCO since July 2021 |
| Contract type | Not disclosed in proxy for Cane |
| Severance / Change-in-control | Not disclosed for Cane (NEO severance and carve‑out details provided only for CEO/President/CTO) |
| Clawback policy | Committee periodically reviews clawback policy terms (policy oversight noted; specifics not disclosed) |
| Insider trading | Company policy governs trading; prohibits hedging/pledging as noted above |
Investment Implications
- Pay-for-performance visibility on Cane is limited: As a non-NEO, his specific salary, bonus, and equity awards are not disclosed, constraining granular alignment analysis; however, company-wide design emphasizes RSUs and included 2024 performance-conditional acceleration for NEOs tied to revenue and adjusted EBITDA, which were not achieved—signaling tighter performance linkage at senior levels .
- Alignment vs. retention into restructuring: The July 2025 prepackaged Chapter 11 plan contemplates cancellation of all existing equity interests at effectiveness, which would likely eliminate economic value of outstanding executive equity grants, heightening retention risk for customer-facing leadership unless new incentives are granted post-emergence .
- Governance guardrails are positive: Prohibitions on hedging/pledging and committee oversight of stock ownership guidelines support alignment, while the company’s emerging growth status means no say‑on‑pay votes for now—reducing shareholder pressure on compensation design during restructuring .
- Ownership concentration: Executives and directors as a group held 20.7% as of 4/17/2025, but prospective equity cancellation under the plan materially changes that ownership picture going forward .