Eric Friedman

NOVEMBER 18, 2022

Advisor helping a startup – Midjourney. I have had a few founder friends reach out to me asking about how much equity to give to an advisor, and had some operators reach out asking how to become an advisor for an early stage founder. I have been on both sides of the cap table of advisors. Some are not.

Early Stage 103

Early Stage Equity Vesting Cap Table 103

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2016

There is much talk these days that startup valuations have decreased and may continue to do so and that the amount of time it takes to fund raise may take longer. And recaps hurt founders so often people just avoid doing them. How Complicated is Your Cap Table? Cap Table issues are seldom understood by entrepreneurs.

Burn Rate 150

Burn Rate Cap Table Valuation Software Review 150

Feld Thoughts

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Mark Suster wrote a great post yesterday titled The Resetting of the Startup Industry. “If you need to clean up your own cap table first – while very hard to do – it will make outside funding easier” Again, go read the post now – I’ll wait. Go read it now – I’ll wait.

Cap Table 70

Cap Table Down Round Liquidation Preference Founder 70

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 2, 2017

And the narrative for 2017 is OLD ECONOMY COMPANIES WANT TO BUY YOUR STARTUP. When Satya and I started Homebrew in 2013 one of our bets for the coming decades was that non-traditional acquirers would become more aggressive in their pursuit of technology startups. So, is it true? ” Next Level – Buying Product.

Technical Review 115

Technical Review Cap Table Acquisition Startup 115

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 7, 2015

I love how open Danielle has been throughout the development of her startup Mattermark including honest reflections of when she has changed her opinion. Another founder … “When I pitched the idea to Adam, he was super on board,” Mr. Sloyan said. If anything it felt like a public service to founders to me.

Cap Table 150

Cap Table Cofounder Silicon Valley Startup 150

OnlyOnce

JULY 30, 2020

For many startup CEOs the culmination of their life’s work is an exit of some kind (other than being fired!). If you’re a founder entrepreneur who has led your company for several years, the odds are you have a significant amount of emotional investment in your company, too. But there probably is a right or wrong answer for YOU.

Cap Table 48

Cap Table Institutional Investors Startup Early Stage 48

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

More and more startups are pursuing Revenue-Based VCs , but “RBI” doesn’t fit everyone. From RBI, Flexible VCs borrow the ability to reap meaningful returns without demanding founders build for an exit. By tying payments to actual revenues, founders and investors remain aligned around the company’s real-time performance, good or bad.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Up and Running

JULY 2, 2014

Picking the right attorney in your startup is as important as picking the right business partner. My business partner and I made many mistakes in our first tech startup, and so many of them were the result of choosing a lawyer who was a terrible fit. Let me paint the picture for you: We were about two months into our startup idea.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Angel Investor Due Diligence Dilution 118

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 11, 2023

He’s founder and CEO of Greenhouse , a ‘hiring operating system’ for companies which spans recruiting and onboarding tools for enterprises and SMEs. Hunter Walk: Before we dive into your company Greenhouse , give me one story from your childhood that foretold you were going to end up a startup founder.

Private Equity 78

Private Equity Equity DC Leveraged Buyout 78

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 28, 2012

Another VC called the co-founder & tech head – Parker Harris. They want to see your cap table, your legal documents, your major contracts, your full financial model, etc. They can get at the most important information early on by simply asking you : How much of the company do the founders own?

Technical Review 316

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Cap Table 316

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2016

Remember that investors at this stage have heard primarily from the founder, and only reviewed written business plans and collateral. In fact, it’s really just an in-depth common-sense analysis of key success parameters of any startup to assess the risk before final commitment. Team synergies, commitment and depth.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Due Diligence Cap Table Intellectual Property 120

OnlyOnce

FEBRUARY 1, 2024

Here’s one to keep in mind – we did this a few times at Return Path, and I was just reminded of it when I was coaching another founder who is doing the same thing right now. Why would the cap table of the target company agree to this? The post The Dowry appeared first on The Startup CEO blog.

Cap Table 71

Cap Table Common Stock Acquisition Stock 71

Hunter Walker

MAY 13, 2023

“Worst case scenario we’ll sell to a larger startup or public company for about ~$1.5m I was on both sides of these transactions – buying startups for Google/YouTube and angel investing in high quality technical founders. per engineer.” of the time my answer is no f **g way].

Early Stage 117

Early Stage Cap Table Acquisition Sales 117

NZ Entrepreneur

JUNE 21, 2022

Want to tap in to the best startup advice from entrepreneurs who are out there doing it? Welcome to ‘500 Founders’ where we ask startup founders and innovators from around New Zealand, What is one piece of advice you would give to people working on their first startup and why? Tina Chou – Founder.

Founder 88

Founder Cap Table Cofounder New Zealand 88

Hunter Walker

MARCH 15, 2018

Reflecting on Jennifer’s assertion, I thought of our experience with theSkimm , one of the most dynamic audience companies out there today and a startup we were fortunate to first back in 2013. During that time I’ve heard many male media founders lauded as “visionary” – Jonah Peretti, Shane Smith, Bill Simmons.

Technical Review 71

Technical Review Cap Table Venture Capital Finance 71

View from Seed

OCTOBER 11, 2022

At the seed stage and as companies scale, helping the founders I work with identify and reach their goals, personally and professionally, gives me energy and purpose. And I’ve been fortunate enough to witness their startups scale from ideas to $1B+ businesses (and even an IPO in the case of Poshmark).

North America 156

North America San Francisco Cap Table Cofounder 156

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 8, 2023

The number of startups who raised money beyond the ‘Unicorn’ benchmark grew so dramatically before the 2022 reset that there is just simply farther to fall when many of these fail to grow into their targets, or disappear completely. Valuations. Whatever gets reported is just the tip of the iceberg.

Portfolio 98

Portfolio Cap Table LP Valuation 98

ithacaVC

SEPTEMBER 4, 2011

Here is the latest edition of Finance Fridays from Brad Feld called “Introducing the Cap Table and CTO” Every startup needs someone to be in charge of the Cap Table. When I was General Counsel at a tech company during the 1999 bubble times, I kept the company’s Cap Table.

Cap Table 49

Cap Table Finance Option Pool Warrant 49

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 4, 2022

For most founders, fundraising is a struggle. Morality aside, I’d say given the inherent riskiness of startups, I’m not sure this would be a great addition to your cap table. What’s that investor going to be like in a board meeting when you as a female founder need their support or worse, actually their vote?

Cap Table 163

Cap Table Cofounder Private Equity Finance 163

ithacaVC

DECEMBER 9, 2013

Also, during the process, we had to clean up the company’s cap table and make sure that we all agreed on who owned what on a pro forma pre-money basis. Without having a complete pre-money cap table, it is impossible to calculate a share price. Dealing with VCs Management Startup Life' And Happy Holidays!

Term Sheet 58

Term Sheet Cap Table Technical Review IP 58

Hunter Walker

NOVEMBER 21, 2018

When they’re at seed stage, we’re deferring to the founders’ decisions but also trying to help them understand the challenges associated with a hard pivot if their cap table isn’t supportive of the direction. Startups are really hard. My opinion?

Founder 96

Founder Cap Table Seed Stage Cofounder 96

keen.io

FEBRUARY 5, 2013

How I negotiated my startup compensation. When I started thinking about joining Keen, I quickly realized there is a lot I don’t know about startups. I knew enough to know I wanted to join a startup. To be honest, I knew I wanted to join this startup. The founders had been dropping hints that they wanted me to join them.

Salary 50

Salary Equity Startup San Francisco 50

Hunter Walker

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

Like parenting a toddler coming off a sugar high, the last 18 months of startup activity has been marked largely by tears, shrieks, and occasional throwing of toys. Valuations for the Top Decile of Seed Startups Have Fallen Less YoY While the Second Decile Have Been Hit Harder. Gotta own enough of your winners. It’s just math.

Cap Table 93

Cap Table Valuation Salary Seed Stage 93

Austin Startup

AUGUST 20, 2017

August 20, 2017: This is another in my series of posts all leading up to a book on Startup Decision Making. One of the most common mistakes I see in startups is making decisions that lose sight of the context , including the past, present, and future. Sooner or later everybody in a startup knows what everyone else is getting paid.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Cap Table Securities and Exchange Commission 48

Austin Startup

OCTOBER 27, 2017

TL;DR : “Founder friendliness” should mean not being hostile, but also not being submissive, to founders. Common Stock Ask the Users Because we’re known as Startup/VC lawyers who don’t represent VCs (just companies), I often get asked about my thoughts on “founder friendliness.” Good entrepreneurs and advisors know that.

Founder 48

Founder Cap Table Preferred Stock Common Stock 48

Hunter Walker

FEBRUARY 2, 2023

Why Pairing Junior Executives With External Mentors Can Accelerate Your Hiring and Their Professional Development Often at a startup it’s better to hire for talent, ambition, and commitment, than years in role or ‘did they have the job already somewhere else.’ What should your relationship (as a founder) be with this person?

Hiring 60

Hiring Cap Table Equity Dividend 60

techcrunch.com

APRIL 26, 2013

For Startups And Winning SEC Approval, AngelList Opens Up Investment Platform To More Companies. In December, AngelList , a service that matches early-stage startups with investors, debuted the ability to allow accredited investors to actually invest in startups on the platform with as little as $1,000. Enterprise. Smartphones.

SEC 61

SEC Accredited Investor San Diego New York City 61

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

Your historical trading information including financials and a “customer file” which shows the history of your transactions so that investors can run “cohort” analyses Customer reference, personal references, key team members, compensation, cap table, stock option plan, etc. and then asking to take a brochure home with you. No problem.

Cap Table 336

Cap Table Due Diligence Forecast Churn Rate 336

OnlyOnce

OCTOBER 28, 2021

My co-founders, I’ve worked with for an average of 15 years – we know and trust each other tremendously. And for the most part, the same is true about our cap table. No institutional debt like a messy cap table, legacy people issues, leases for offices we don’t want or need any more.

Cap Table 62

Cap Table Early Stage Cofounder Leadership 62

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 2, 2014

The acquiring company wants 100% of the proceeds to go to founders whatever the cap table says because buyers care way more about incentivizing and locking in founders than they do about VC returns or legal provisions to protect VCs. Startup Lessons' Every circumstance is different.

Cap Table 346

Cap Table Cofounder Stock Acquisition 346

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 20, 2019

On the other hand, some people try and pad the cap table with a bunch of big names or industry vets, even if their check size is small, just to build the network. The reality is that the last thing most founders will have time for is writing up investor updates. 3) Small investors are more aligned.

Cap Table 107

Cap Table Later Stage Hiring Founder 107

Pascal's View

JULY 9, 2017

Unfortunately, what the CEO/founder forgets most often is that the notes have a multiplier effect in the post-money calculation; the more notes and the further the cap is from the new priced equity, the greater the variance between actual and nominal pre- and post-money valuations. It will be worth the time and effort. Sound simple?

Post-Money Valuation 49

Post-Money Valuation Valuation Cap Table Covenant 49

OnlyOnce

DECEMBER 1, 2021

Lots of startups have nothing more than an outsourced bookkeeper or one junior staff accountant. Sometimes a founder or a founder’s spouse even steps in on this front. As startups scale, they are likely to hire a more senior accountant, maybe an AR/AP/Collections staff member, or even a Controller or VP Finance.

Hiring 117

Hiring Cap Table Finance Equity 117

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 1, 2021

But that was back in 2004 and the trillions of dollars of wealth created since in startups, big tech companies and crypto makes earlier questions of extravagance seem quaint. I never heard about giraffes after Google’s IPO, although reportedly one early engineer did buy a carnival-size ferris wheel. And I’m thrilled for them and their teams.

Silicon Valley 123

Silicon Valley Cap Table IPO .Net 123

Hunter Walker

JUNE 25, 2022

I won’t invest in a startup that doesn’t care about its culture. So be thoughtful about the characteristics you seek out; the motivations of those individuals; the processes and practices you put into place at the startup; and the behaviors and outcomes you reward. What Makes A Culture “Bad” Isn’t Just That You Don’t Like It.

Cap Table 96

Cap Table Matching Hiring Business Model 96

Hunter Walker

JULY 18, 2021

Before we founded Homebrew I made ~20 or so investments in startups using my own savings. A couple of times I encountered very likable first-time founders who were operating in an interesting problem space but lacked strong product instincts or experience. I Made These Mistakes A Few Times But You Don’t Need To.

Cap Table 140

Cap Table IRR Angel Investor IPO 140

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2011

When I first started as a startup CEO in 1999 there were no guides on raising venture capital. Founders don’t often think about “primary&# stock vs, “fully diluted&# stock in terms of voting rights. Or what “flat spots&# on a cap table are. Every startup needs the knowledge in this book.

Liquidation Preference 304

Liquidation Preference Term Sheet Cap Table Participating Preferred 304