Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

Options are gravy - I lived through the first dot com era where we used stock options as a recruiting tool. I freely admit this (along with nearly everything between 1999-2000) was a mistake. We give out stock options. Some founders err on the side of telling employees absolutely everything. Quickly dissecting.

Stock Options 294

Stock Options Stock Valuation Liquidation Preference 294

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

The A round was done in February 2000 (end of the bull market) and my B round was done in April 2001 (bear market). Mark Jeffrey - Q: “Is it more traditional to do your ESOP (employee stock option plan) before or after your angel or Series A funding?&# The downside is that people need to buy their stock.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Term Sheet Valuation Stock Options 282

The Startup Magazine

DECEMBER 19, 2018

As part of The Startup Magazine Founder Interview Series , we talked to Mr. Tony Lakier. Tony is the Founder and CEO of RedMane Technology. In 2000, Louisiana gave our five-person company (at that time) a multimillion-dollar contract to implement a mission-critical system. Technology is just one of our tools. Thank you Tony.

Founder 108

Founder Louisiana Virgin Islands South Africa 108

online.wsj.com

JULY 11, 2012

Virtual Stock Exchange. Stock Quotes. Andreessen Horowitz is telling entrepreneurs it prefers situations where the founders have controlling stakes, reckoning that theyll be better able to resist outside distraction and focus on making great products. MarketWatch. SmartMoney. SmartMoney. AllThingsDigital. AllThingsDigital.

Silicon Valley 42

Silicon Valley Founder Software Review Technical Review 42

Up and Running

AUGUST 18, 2014

In comparison to traditional business ventures, startups are expected to grow rapidly, at a rate of between 5% and 7% per week in their initial stage – Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator. This is why many startup founders launch with exit strategies that focus on a buy-out. Is a startup business right for you?

Small Business 154

Small Business Exit Strategy Cofounder Angel Investor 154

Steve Blank

MARCH 17, 2020

To answer the first question, take stock of your current gross burn rate i.e. how much cash are you spending each month. This isn’t a bear stock market. But remember no winter lasts forever and in it smart founders and VCs will be planting the seeds for the next generation of startups. What will my investors do? Lessons Learned.

Burn Rate 436

Burn Rate Startup Valuation Sales Cycle 436

Start Up Blog

DECEMBER 30, 2013

Still waiting for wearables: It feels like we are in early 2000′s phase for smart phones when it comes to wearable computing. What would you rather own: Apple stock at a 14 times price earnings ratio? It seems the real money in technology stocks is made when the founders exit, not when investors buy it.

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Valuation Software Review Social Media 100

abovethecrowd.com

AUGUST 23, 2020

The traditional way of going public is systematically broken and is robbing Silicon Valley founders, employees, and investors of billions of dollars each year. Most potential buyers of stocks are blocked out of the IPO process. Stock markets do not have have historical artifacts hidden in them.

IPO 118

IPO Silicon Valley Warrant Matching 118

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

My co-founder and other management team members wanted us to hold off and see whether we could get the deal done at a higher price. We moved into the legal process and final due diligence in January and February of 2000. Our final closure was the first week of March 2000. I was resolute. They accepted my argument.

Technical Review 301

Technical Review Term Sheet Venture Capital Due Diligence 301

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2014

Mark pointed out that on the one hand 6 months ago one of Silicon Valley’s best known ibankers told him that SaaS public valuations were the most over-valued since the dot com bubble in 2000. Yet Mark also pointed out that the recent corrections in the public market valuations and the scrutiny new IPOs have undergone is a health sign.

Valuation 309

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Later Stage Non-Compete 309

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2011

Getting to know each other before exchanging money for stock certificates is important for both sides. An investor called the founder, spoke for 30 minutes on the phone and committed to funding having never met the team. If I were a founder I would personally start with these kinds of seed funds. AngelList isn’t hot.

Southern California 267

Southern California Angel Investor Early Stage Silicon Valley 267

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I recently spoke at the Founder Showcase at the request of Adeo Ressi. I know that most people who are close to them tend to deny their existence, as we saw in the great housing bubble of 2002-2007 and the dot com bubble of 1997-2000. I said that at the Founder Showcase, too. some founders lose their life savings.

Saudi Arabia 309

Saudi Arabia Valuation IPO Technical Review 309

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 28, 2009

My competitors from those days STILL love to talk about how much money we raised in February 2000 (get over it already!). Reach out to the founders, not the staff. We do hand out stock options. Goldman Sachs (an investor in our company) told us we’d IPO within 18 months for $1 billion so not to take any offers.

PR 331

PR Software Review Ireland Germany 331

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 5, 2013

by Aneace Haddad, CEO & Founder, Taggo. In 2000, we launched a loyalty program for a bank in Turkey, Akbank. They were locking in value before the currency depreciated further, converting cash and credit into hard commodities like groceries, appliances and other things they could stock up on. That was a decade ago.

Programming 150

Programming Turkey Social Media Redemption 150

Steve Blank

JULY 15, 2010

The two decades from 1979 when pension funds fueled the expansion of venture capital to 2000 when the dot-com bubble burst were the Golden Age for entrepreneurs and venture capital firms. VC’s invested their limited partners’ “risk capital” in a portfolio of startups in exchange for illiquid stock. Here’s why. Source: NVCA.).

Venture Capital 297

Venture Capital IPO Liquidity Event Entrepreneur 297

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

I’m honored to be at a university noted for knowledge, and in a city with 2000 years of history – home of Gaudí one of the 20 th century’s greatest innovators. The stock market clearly values companies that can deliver disruptive innovation. Thank you for the kind introduction. I’d like to start with a request. Now look around.

Private Equity 325

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 325

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2016

After running Microsoft for 25 years, Bill Gates handed the reins of CEO to Steve Ballmer in January 2000. When visionary founders depart (death, firing, etc.), Microsoft entered the 21st century as the dominant software provider for anyone who interacted with a computing device. 16 years later it’s just another software company.

Azure 120

Azure Business Model Cloud Artificial Inteligence 120

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2016

After running Microsoft for 25 years, Bill Gates handed the reins of CEO to Steve Ballmer in January 2000. When visionary founders depart (death, firing, etc.), Microsoft entered the 21st century as the dominant software provider for anyone who interacted with a computing device. 16 years later it’s just another software company.

Azure 120

Azure Business Model Cloud Artificial Inteligence 120

Feld Thoughts

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Once again, as we find ourselves in the middle of a significant public market correction, especially around technology stocks, there’s an enormous amount of noise in the system, as there always is. I learned this lesson 127 times between 2000 and 2005. I have two simple rules for founders in my head from this experience.

Cap Table 70

Cap Table Down Round Liquidation Preference Founder 70

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 14, 2018

Our team members have literally been at the bleeding the intersection of real-time AI and computer graphics since 2000. My first was AI.implant in 2000, which allowed non-programmers to create and simulate huge crowds of interacting autonomous characters. Next would be Jensen Huang, the Founder & CEO of NVIDIA.

Startup 70

Startup Artificial Inteligence Canada Engineer 70

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 7, 2016

When investors interrogate founders, these interrogatives arise, but with a twist: Adding the word “why” in front of each. But also you de-risk by aligning the solution to the founder’s existing abilities, for example in using whatever language/framework the founders are already adept in. When → Why now?

San Francisco 170

San Francisco Startup Azure Framework 170

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Why Arizona Bay started taking stock from its customers instead of cash. Last spring, Dave Graham , founder of software consulting firm Arizona Bay, learned that a major client, Jumpstart Automotive Media, had been acquired for more than $80 million. The 2011 Top Lists. 500|5000 Conference. Honorees Resources. Apply. ); Topics >.

Arizona 40

Arizona Equity Iowa Venture Capital 40

online.wsj.com

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

Virtual Stock Exchange. Stock Quotes. The results were similar when he examined data for companies funded from 2000 to 2010, he says. Consider Daniel Dreymann, a founder of Goodmail Systems Inc., Breaking Up (With a Co-Founder) Is Hard to Do. For Twitter Founder, Its Hip to Be Square Inc. AllThingsDigital.

Venture Capital 107

Venture Capital Software Review Rhode Island North Dakota 107

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 24, 2017

In 2001, I was on the board of four public companies (and was co-chairman of two of them which I had been a co-founder of.) Sometime in the spring of 2000, all of them hit their peak stock price. By mid-2001 I think all of these stocks were sub-$1 sotcks and – if they weren’t – they would be soon.

Internet 129

Internet Cofounder Stock Founder 129

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

Just ask anybody who was trying to close funding the fateful week of September 11, 2001 or even March 2000. The professor plotted data and showed us statistically that most people buy stocks when they are booming (e.g. The best MBA class I took was an investment strategy class. overvalued) and sell when the fall precipitously.

Burn Rate 263

Burn Rate Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Private Equity 263

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

Many assume it was a cakewalk, based on the success LinkedIn has enjoyed over time and the current stature of our founder/CEO Reid Hoffman (now Chairman). Silicon Valley is still emerging from the tech bubble and massive downturn of late 2000-2002. Google is still a private company (their IPO was Aug 2004). Thanks Lee.

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Before Roving Software could receive its first round of financing from professional investors, in early 1999, he had to put all the stock arrangements in writing. I advise my clients that you offer stock only after youve searched your heart and soul and cant come up with a way to pay with anything else," says Thomas H.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 6, 2014

IPO market showed more activity than any other first quarter since 2000, with 64 companies raising $10.6 Most startup founders voluntarily exit or are pushed out, and the fun is gone. " Current IPO activity feedback seems to support their excitement. In the first quarter of 2014, the U.S. Analysts want escalating profits.

IPO 236

IPO Initial Public Offering Startup Small Business Administration 236

Austin Startup

AUGUST 20, 2017

Kalanick, former investor BFF turned highly disappointed by founder behavior. Usually the founders duke it out among themselves as to titles and responsibilities and relative shareholdings. If you are the lead founder, if behooves you to sort all this out and get started with a clean organization. How about your Investors ?

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Cap Table Securities and Exchange Commission 48

www.joelonsoftware.com

JULY 10, 2012

That means on the average day you have 150 metric tons of wheat flour in stock. I’m Joel Spolsky , co-founder of Fog Creek Software , a New York company that proves that. I’m also the co-founder of Stack Overflow. © 2000-2012 Joel Spolsky. Suppose your bakery has six 50-ton silos to store flour. About the author.

Software Review 85

Software Review Software Database New York City 85

www.joelonsoftware.com

MARCH 24, 2010

Joel on Software Fog Creek Compensation by Joel Spolsky Wednesday, August 30, 2000 At Fog Creek Software, the way we make sure that people are paid fairly and rewarded for excellent work is based on a professional ladder. As the company grows, the initial package of stock options offered to new hires will be lower and lower.

Software Review 48

Software Review Stock Options Salary Technical Review 48

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2011

Dot.com Bubble ( 1995-2000): “ Anything goes” as public markets clamor for ideas, vague promises of future growth, and IPOs happen absent regard for history or profitability. August 1995 – March 2000: The Dot.Com Bubble. VC’s went back to basics, to focus on building companies while their founders worked on building customers.

Internet 334

Internet IPO Agile Silicon Valley 334

ReadWriteStart

MAY 25, 2018

Perceived bubbles are funny: They can propel even the worst companies to the top of the stock charts. Vitalik Buterin, founder of Ethereum, argues that blockchain offers particular value in parts of the world where people can’t yet trust their institutions — places such as Africa, India, and Eastern Europe.

South Korea 114

South Korea Silicon Valley Sweden Africa 114

Cracking the Code

JULY 15, 2020

When we started to take stock of this progress four years ago with the first Accel Euroscape , the list of the top 100 cloud companies from Europe and Israel, we had great hopes and Europe delivered beyond our expectations. With this milestone, Europe has clearly established itself as a key center for software innovation in the world.

Europe 71

Europe Cloud Valuation 71

The Equity Kicker

AUGUST 25, 2015

I saw that in 2000 and then again in 2008. I remember this most clearly from 2000 when I was in a fund that was investing heavily pre and post crash and the VC adjustment took 8-9 months. Mark Suster set out a number of the dynamics at play in his post Making Sense of the Stock Market Drops in Relation to Venture Financing.

Valuation 60

Valuation Startup Stock Portfolio 60

David Teten

AUGUST 7, 2019

The second strategy is Value Investing , a strategy which “seeks to maximize returns by finding stocks that are undervalued by the market…Investors assess a stock’s intrinsic value…and compare that value with the stock price. LTV / CAC, revenue growth, etc.) Requires less analysis.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Valuation Stock NDA 60

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 18, 2015

By Rob Nelson, Founder and CEO at Grow. Netflix shares have doubled this year, culminating with a 7 for 1 stock split yesterday. In 2000, three years after Netflix launched DVD rental services, Netflix used customer data and ratings from their movie recommendation system to predict content choices for all Netflix members.

Metadata 100

Metadata Portugal Spain Metrics 100