Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

I started in 2007 with a thesis that my primary investment decision would be about the team (70%) and only afterward about the market opportunity (30%). Seed investors are aplenty and of course they need downstream money to fuel their early-stage bets. And we live in public so many people are able just to reach out.

Cofounder 374

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Early Stage 374

David Teten

NOVEMBER 17, 2011

In particular, this model is designed to help all team members understand the impact of dilution on their options. Enter Raul: This capital table startup options valuation model was created with the purpose of valuing options for an illiquid, early-stage start-up. I couldn’t find one online, so I built it.

Employee 155

Employee IRR Startup Mexico 155

Gust

OCTOBER 8, 2014

There weren’t a lot of seed funds in 2007 so this was often done by angels, funding consortia or sometimes early-stage funds that existed then (First Round Capital, True Ventures, SoftTech VC, etc.). 5 million was always the classic definition of an A-round between the late nineties (crazy financings aside) and say 2007.

Cap Table 136

Cap Table Silicon Valley Term Sheet Non-Compete 136

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 28, 2013

YCombinator had a great run from 2007 through early 2009 investing at a time when there weren''t nearly as many seed funds and accelerators as there are now. The classes got too big and quality was diluted because, by PG''s own admission, YC " grew too fast.". YC''s best investing days may be behind it. That''s less than 10%.

Venture Capital 152

Venture Capital Cofounder IRR Dilution 152

dondodge.typepad.com

JANUARY 15, 2011

Community is more powerful than money or technology » August 11, 2007 How much equity for investors and employees? Entrepreneurs face some pretty tough questions at a very early stage. How much equity should I grant to early employees? Dont worry about giving up too much equity at an early stage.

Equity 40

Equity Employee Dilution Valuation 40

venturehacks.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

by Nivi on July 19th, 2007. When you evaluate a candidate, ask yourself whether she is likely to increase the next round’s share price (include the dilution of her market rate options). · Jul 19, 2007. · Jul 20, 2007. · Jul 20, 2007. · Jul 20, 2007. SUPPORTED BY. venturehacks.

Equity 40

Equity Cap Table Valuation RSS 40

www.startupnorth.ca

OCTOBER 23, 2010

But for every founder, there is an early employee that takes near equal risks in joining an early-stage company. Remember the goal is to incent early employees to have an emotional ownership of the product and company they are building. Darmesh Shah has a great list of insights for employees joining early stage companies.

Employee 41

Employee Founder Salary Equity 41

Professor VC

JANUARY 17, 2008

If my math is correct, this is approximately a 31% IRR, which has to beat individual angel investments on aggregate and venture capital returns over the period of the study (1990-2007). I take CFO roles in early stage companies and participate on the management team during the early financings and business model development phases.

Pre-Money Valuation 28

Pre-Money Valuation Angel Investor Angel Groups Valuation 28

The Next Web

OCTOBER 3, 2012

In 2007, Paul Graham gave a variety of causes for startup death in How Not To Die. Here’s the problem: this opportunity doesn’t exist for early-stage startups, because, by definition, they have no users or customers. Worrying about “scale” in the early days of your startup is simply a bad investment.

Cofounder 155

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Technical Review Software Review 155

maplebutter.com

JANUARY 8, 2013

When it comes to early stage investing – it’s all gut. Does it make sense to spend this time speaking about your early stage start-up when your product has not even entered Alpha testing? Typically its way more important to build product, and pull in early users to give you that feedback vs. speaking about it.

Technical Review 44

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Software Review 44

Life Beyond Code

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

And today, we have a group of early adopter premium members who are making good use of the program. He has veered away from angel financing, and has decided to bootstrap with customer money, and preserve equity ownership, foregoing any immediate dilution related to financing. Of 1M/1M he says, “The value of your program is amazing.

Programming 116

Programming Silicon Valley Bootstrapping Technical Review 116

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2010

I had an offer to sell my company to Salesforce.com in 2007. Steven knew that from a fund perspective he wasn’t going to earn the amount of money that a typical VC might look for since we were selling early. Large early stage rounds. • I had an offer to sell my company to Salesforce.com in 2007. Closing text.

Entrepreneur 321

Entrepreneur Warrant Silicon Valley Early Stage 321