Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

At an accelerator … Me: Raising convertible notes as a seed round is one of the biggest disservices our industry has done to entrepreneurs since 2001-2003 when there were “full ratchets” and “multiple liquidation preferences” – the most hostile terms anybody found in term sheets 10 years ago. And so forth.

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet 417

Gust

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

Me: Raising convertible notes as a seed round is one of the biggest disservices our industry has done to entrepreneurs since 2001-2003 when there were “full ratchets” and “multiple liquidation preferences” – the most hostile terms anybody found in term sheets 10 years ago. Stock Option plans. At an accelerator …. Him: Not so good. “But

Liquidation Preference 153

Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet Stock 153

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 13, 2010

Within a year, by late 2000 / early 2001 consulting firms were firing people en masse. On July 27th, 2001 Accenture IPO’s and many of the partners grew fabulously wealthy. Since that date the S&P 500 is up 2.45% while Accenture stock is up 206% with revenue of $23 billion and a market cap of $32 billion.

Turkey 302

Turkey Differentiation IP Technical Review 302

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2010

Most of what I learned about operating startups I learned from the really tough years at my first company from 2001-2003. My company had raised venture capital in April 2001 but we were told that there may never be any more coming. I learned how to retain employees when stock options were no longer a real currency.

Venture Capital 285

Venture Capital Hiring Software Review Stock Options 285

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

I lived through this again September 2001. If anything changed (stock market crash, real estate crash, somebody trying to buy Salesforce.com, whatever) I could end up with goose eggs. If it’s a biz deal you might care about IP protection, revenue share, investment commitments to joint marketing – whatever.

Technical Review 301

Technical Review Term Sheet Due Diligence Venture Capital 301

blog.expensify.com

APRIL 24, 2012

there are start ups who are legitimately using.net because they don’t need to look directly into the tcp/ip stack. Purchase IP from the vendors. Look at what happened with Microsoft’s attempt to get the London Stock Exchange onto.NET – a total failure. of course, you’re allowed to have your opinions.

Java 107

Java PHP Software Review Coder 107