Rob Go

JUNE 17, 2014

In my last post about raising seed vs. jumping straight to A, I received a good comment from Chris Woods that my analysis neglected to include the impact of option pools that are created at each financing round. There have been others in the past that have detailed the math behind option pools and their impact on venture deals.

Option Pool 65

Option Pool Dilution .Net Term Sheet 65

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

ff Venture Capital hired two full-time engineers to build out Totem. The Long Term Stock Exchange is building out a set of tools for founders for managing their cap tables, 409A valuations, cash on hand, options pool, investor relations, etc. Fincura specializes in serving lenders.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

For example, a seed firmshould be able to give advice about how to approach VCs, which VCsobviously dont need to do; whereas VCs should be able to giveadvice about how to hire an "executive team," which is not an issuein the seed stage. You dont have to spend time on bureaucraticstuff, because you havent hired any bureaucrats yet.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

www.paulgraham.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

In a traditional series A round, before the VCs invest theymake the company set aside a block of stock for future hires—usuallybetween 10 and 30% of the company. Sowhen investors stop trying to squeeze a little more out of theirexisting deals, theyll find theyre net ahead, because so manymore new deals appear.

Startup 93

Startup Valuation Non-Compete Deal Flow 93

venturehacks.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

In practice, you raise money or hire an employee because you need to, not because you want to. Say the equity equation tells you to pay a prospective hire above market. You should still pay the hire a market rate and save the company some equity. Say the equity equation tells you to pay a prospective hire below market.

Equity 40

Equity Cap Table Valuation RSS 40

www.payne.org

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

5 Stock vs Options. The re-heating of the venture funded tech market has pushed a heat up of the hiring market, and Im getting more calls from friends asking for help understanding startup stock (equity) offers. Assuming you can afford the exercise price, the net effect is nearly identical to founders stock. 3 Dilution.

Equity 56

Equity Employee Vesting Preferred Stock 56