David Teten

OCTOBER 1, 2015

Should you co-found your company with a software development shop? I’ve talked with a number of software development shops who are eager to get into the business of cofounding companies, i.e., getting product revenue and equity instead of just consulting revenue. What are the terms of their relationship with the founder?

Software Developers 60

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Technical Cofounder 60

OnlyOnce

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

In our prior lives, the Bolster founders worked together to scale up a business called Return Path and also. worked as advisors and mentors to numerous early stage founders and startups. Brad’s visceral response in this conversation was a very clear, “you should hire Jenny.” We needed another senior leader to join our team.

Silicon Valley 62

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Cap Table Early Stage 62

BeyondVC

NOVEMBER 17, 2016

We each independently fell in love with enterprise software 20+ years ago as seed investors (cos like gotomeeting/Citrix, greenplum/EMC, livperson/IPO LPSN) and founders (workmarket, onforce/Adecco, spinback/buddymedia/salesf0rce) and are now benefiting from the ecosystems, knowledge and network that we’ve collectively developed.

Cap Table 60

Cap Table Cofounder Dividend Institutional Investors 60

venturehacks.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

SUPPORTED BY Products Archives @venturehacks Books AngelList About RSS How to pick a co-founder by Naval Ravikant on November 12th, 2009 Update : Also see our 40-minute interview on this topic. Picking a co-founder is your most important decision. One founder companies can work, against the odds (hello, Mark Zuckerberg).

Cofounder 101

Cofounder Founder Technical Cofounder Technical Review 101

Spencer Fry

APRIL 17, 2017

When I first started building Coach, I invested $30k of my own money to get a prototype working and acquire our first half dozen customers, but I (and the contract developer who I was working with) were spread too thin. As a bootstrapped startup, the only accountability you have is to yourself and to your co-founder if you have one.

Bootstrapping 63

Bootstrapping Cap Table Liquidation Preference Cofounder 63

venturehacks.com

DECEMBER 9, 2012

This is the advisor paradox : hire advisors for good advice but don’t follow it, apply it. Your task is to hire the maverick advisors in the crowd. Hiring advisors is an ongoing effort. Then hire him if you like the results. Developing a Network of Advisors | 12 Months to Launch. // Dec 30, 2010 at 10:03 pm. [.]

Advisory Board 50

Advisory Board Cap Table RSS Cofounder 50

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

To learn more about this space, I suggest join an online community I co-founded, PEVCTech. . This provides us more time to develop meaningful relationships with prospects and customers. Russell Rothstein, Founder and CEO, IT Central Station , a product review site, said, “We see VCs on our site very often. 1) Manage the firm .

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Version One Ventures

MAY 22, 2018

Some of the best later-stage investors walk founders through an institutionalized “reverse” pitch. How do you decide who you should have in your cap table? Are you looking for help and expertise in hiring, product strategy, customer development, fundraising, coaching, therapy, etc.? What is important to you?

Cap Table 60

Cap Table Cofounder Syndicate Syndication 60

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

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 11, 2019

She’s also a founding member of All Raise, a non-profit committed to improving diversity in both funders and founders. How do you develop power within a venture capital firm? What I was interested in seeing was that a lot of these founders believe that they’re not just creating technology, they're creating change and culture.

Founder 68

Founder Lean Venture Capital Cofounder 68

blog.simeonov.com

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

I have been thinking a lot recently about how to apply agile development principles to investing and key aspects of startup development such as team building. Simeon, can you tell us how you structure ownership and control so you can fire your co-founders if necessary? All founders have the same agreement.

Founder 44

Founder Vesting Agile Startup 44

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 16, 2023

That’s how it feels when your hot deal from two years ago winds up running low on cash and gets into a pay-to-play round that wipes out the cap table. You're competing against other top tier VCs for your deal flow--as top founders look to get backed by top investors. You can call BS quickly by carefully listening to founders.

Non-Compete 97

Non-Compete Cofounder Cap Table Reputation 97

venturehacks.com

MARCH 21, 2008

YC acts like a super advisor, not an investor—and YC makes their companies happen by helping develop the company’s product, introducing them to investors, and branding their companies. Advisor compensation Whether you’re hiring a normal advisor or super advisor: Advisory shares are usually issued as common stock options.

Advisory Board 44

Advisory Board Cap Table Vesting Equity 44

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 23, 2023

It doesn’t mean you don’t develop a personal affinity – it’s best when you do! Our participation in Anchor ( later acquired by Spotify ) generated both a return and a friendship between us and the founders. Who was the best one and why was it Homebrew? And so those are the investors I’ve tried to emulate.

Founder 88

Founder Angel Investor Cap Table Distribution 88

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 4, 2021

Just before the IPO, I had a far-reaching conversation with co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong as he approached this major milestone for the company he co-founded back in 2012. I'm the co-founder and CEO of Coinbase. It's one of those things that founders can do sometimes where other employees are afraid to do it.

IPO 113

IPO Cofounder Technical Review Government 113

abovethecrowd.com

JUNE 2, 2021

This “gain” ($34B last year alone) is a result of a direct wealth-transfer to these individuals FROM the previous owners of the company — founders, executives, employees, and venture investors. Is it disrespectful to imply that the founders, executives, VC-backers, and the boards of these companies are gullible or naive?

IPO 82

IPO Customer Matching Silicon Valley 82