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!). Or maybe when you look two years out you realize that your company is at its highwater mark in valuation, so it becomes a timing issue. But there probably is a right or wrong answer for YOU.

Cap Table 48

Cap Table Institutional Investors Startup Early Stage 48

VC Adventure

AUGUST 15, 2018

However the board could determine what that fair market value was and, generally speaking, there wasn’t a practical way that these valuations could be challenged. It was and is imprecise science but – at least in the case of venture backed startups – there wasn’t much harm in an option being priced low.

Valuation 48

Valuation Common Stock Cap Table Software Review 48

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

See best practices in building financial models , a template financial model , and valuing startup employee options. We also use Carta , which specializes in cap table management and has just launched a fund administration service which we have transitioned to. 8) Monitor and report investments.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Private Equity Management Cap Table 60

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

See best practices in building financial models , a template financial model , and valuing startup employee options. We also use Carta , which specializes in cap table management and has just launched a fund administration service which we have transitioned to. 8) Monitor and report investments.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Private Equity Management Cap Table 60

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 8, 2023

At the time, this is last quarter and the stock market has trended upwards nicely since then (a potential leading indicator of private tech valuations), we all agreed venture portfolios were probably still 25-40% overvalued. Valuations. Whatever gets reported is just the tip of the iceberg.

Portfolio 98

Portfolio Cap Table LP Valuation 98

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. Semil asserts, Seed-stage valuations have generally been left-unchanged, and I could argue even they’ve gone up since the beginning of 2022. It’s just math.

Cap Table 93

Cap Table Valuation Salary Seed Stage 93

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

More and more startups are pursuing Revenue-Based VCs , but “RBI” doesn’t fit everyone. Yes, via conversion rights at a valuation cap. 2-5x return cap + path to uncapped equity returns. Yes, via conversion rights at a valuation cap. Typically ~3x+ return cap + path to uncapped equity returns.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 2, 2011

While certainly not every business needs to raise venture financing, it is the path for many high-growth technology startups. As Steve Blank explained earlier this week on ReadWriteStart from research at The Startup Genome Project : One of the biggest surprises is that success isn't about size of team or funding.

Cap Table 125

Cap Table Term Sheet Liquidation Preference Technical Review 125

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

Pascal's View

JULY 9, 2017

This is a fundamental issue that does, indeed, boil down to understanding the post-money valuation of a company. At its core, this issue points to the lack of understanding about the importance of post-money valuation by both entrepreneurs and investors. Many entrepreneurs lose track of what they have been cooking up in the cap table.

Post-Money Valuation 49

Post-Money Valuation Valuation Cap Table Covenant 49

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). And even with the significant cost of credit card debt, many entrepreneurs aggressively use existing cards to finance a startup.

Private Equity 118

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 118

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

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. Startup Equity for Early Employees. Michelle Wetzler.

Salary 50

Salary Equity Startup San Francisco 50

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

Gust

JANUARY 30, 2014

Viable business structure and cap table. Reasonable valuation. Startup experience. Invested Interests David Rose entrepreneur funding invest startup' External validation (ideally traction and/or passionate customers). Proven team (tech/product/design/mark eting/sales/domain/etc.). Personal domain expertise.

Cap Table 119

Cap Table API Valuation Startup 119

Hunter Walker

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

Claire got to experience, and played a large part in, Stripe’s proverbial rocketship, blossoming into thousands of employees, generating billions of dollars in revenue and valuation. While at the company — and especially once she departed — Claire became one of the people I always hoped to add to a cap table or startup board.

Cap Table 74

Cap Table Hiring Viral Valuation 74

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

This is all incorporated into a document called a Cap Table. . A cap table will help you in the strategic management of business decisions. Wondering what a cap table is, its importance, and how you can maintain it to expand your business? What is a cap table? Let’s dive in.

Cap Table 112

Cap Table Pre-Money Valuation Stock Options Option Pool 112

View from Seed

AUGUST 6, 2015

When someone goes to work for an early startup, the compensation package general includes an annual salary, health insurance, and, instead of fixed-cost performance upside, a percentage of unvested options to purchase equity in the company. This is not an argument for circulating the entire cap table or compensation calendar.

Equity 120

Equity Employee Cap Table Stock Options 120

View from Seed

AUGUST 6, 2015

When someone goes to work for an early startup, the compensation package general includes an annual salary, health insurance, and, instead of fixed-cost performance upside, a percentage of unvested options to purchase equity in the company. This is not an argument for circulating the entire cap table or compensation calendar.

Equity 120

Equity Employee Cap Table Stock Options 120

Altgate

JUNE 25, 2012

Choe’s equity is a headline-grabbing example of “dead equity”: equity owned by people who are no longer actively working for the startup. Every share of dead equity could have been redeployed as incentive for a current or future contributor to grow the value of the startup. Dead equity has always been a significant issue for startups.

Equity 44

Equity Vesting Cap Table Technical Review 44

www.readwriteweb.com

DECEMBER 29, 2011

While certainly not every business needs to raise venture financing, it is the path for many high-growth technology startups. Earlier this week on ReadWriteStart, Steve Blank used research at The Startup Genome Project and explained: One of the biggest surprises is that success isn't about size of team or funding.

Cap Table 47

Cap Table Term Sheet Liquidation Preference Technical Review 47

The Startup Toolkit

AUGUST 29, 2012

If you’ve never done a tech startup before , it’s helpful to have someone who has ticked the boxes (raised money, built something people hate, built something people loved, hired someone, fired someone, made money, lost money). You probably don’t need to get the cap table involved in that.

Technical Review 38

Technical Review CTO Hire Cap Table Software Review 38

Altgate

AUGUST 25, 2012

Choe’s equity is a headline-grabbing example of “dead equity”: equity owned by people who are no longer actively working for the startup. Every share of dead equity could have been redeployed as incentive for a current or future contributor to grow the value of the startup. Dead equity has always been a significant issue for startups.

Equity 28

Equity Vesting Cap Table Technical Review 28

View from Seed

JUNE 11, 2019

I’ve found that the lead investor will end up doing 90% of the work for a startup (or will cause 90% of the pain if you get the decision wrong). I believe it’s more important to optimize on the right lead investor vs. the highest valuations at the seed stage (within reason). Remember Goldilocks, not too many, not too few.

Syndicate 202

Syndicate Syndication Seed Stage Lead Investor 202

View from Seed

OCTOBER 15, 2014

Over the summer, based on feedback from our portfolio and the broader startup community, NextView created pre-formatted board deck templates for seed-stage startups — part of our Growth Guides series. A seed-stage mobile startup’s housekeeping section might look something like this: Section 3: Core Metrics.

Seed Stage 331

Seed Stage Cap Table Metrics Burn Rate 331

The Equity Kicker

MARCH 21, 2017

It’s fashionable in certain quarters now to slate some of the billion dollar startups that have been created recently and the investors that helped them get there. Five of the six largest companies in the world today were venture backed startups and just about all net new job creation comes from young companies.

San Francisco 90

San Francisco Cap Table Angel Investor Valuation 90

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

The only problem that faces startup investors now is how to mine this new data layer efficiently to increase returns.”. For the broader use case of helping startups execute their legal paperwork, Clerky is a focused solution. EShares is an increasingly popular tool in our portfolio for tracking private company cap tables.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

Scott Edward Walker

SEPTEMBER 16, 2017

I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting articles, blog posts and video clips relating to startups, entrepreneurship and legal issues. Solid post for young founders=> Cap Tables, Share Structures, Valuations, Oh My! Below are my four most popular tweets for the past month. Cheers, Scott.

Cap Table 45

Cap Table Early Stage Valuation Video 45

Austin Startup

DECEMBER 7, 2017

To solve this, VCs and entrepreneurs need a quick and easy way to provide seed funding, without a long, drawn out negotiation, onerous debt covenants, or a crazy valuation that could hurt the investor and/or the entrepreneur. No need to haggle over valuation with us now, just get funded and get to work. This is, obviously, not cool.

Covenant 48

Covenant Cap Table Early Stage SBA 48

ithacaVC

FEBRUARY 1, 2018

It is highly typical for a startup to have small investors on its cap table. The treatment of the friends, family and angels (FFA) as the startup matures and raises larger rounds of financing over time is interesting. In short, they own a smaller piece of a larger valuation pie. causing valuation bumps.

Preemptive Right 45

Preemptive Right Cap Table Valuation Dilution 45

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 8, 2016

Much has changed in the past four months of the technology startup world and how outsiders value the business. As we noted in our survey of more than 150 VCs we know in the industry, many saw drops in Q4 valuations last year with nearly all of them projecting decreases in 2016. Be realistic on valuation. Start early.

Burn Rate 150

Burn Rate Cap Table Balance Sheet Dilution 150

OnlyOnce

JULY 26, 2018

Or you negotiate the highest possible valuation from a new lead investor, only to discover that new lead investor, now on your Board, expects you to triple it in four years and is way out of alignment with the rest of your cap table. On the other side, what’s an example of a “good” loss?

Cap Table 61

Cap Table Lead Investor Valuation Reputation 61

Board Effect

MAY 10, 2019

Capitalization tables—”cap tables” for those who don’t have time for extra syllables—map the balance of power in a company. If org charts are about people power , cap tables are about money power. In reality, however, cap tables are often far more complex. What is a cap table?

Cap Table 40

Cap Table Liquidation Preference Dilution Liquidity Event 40

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). And even with the significant cost of credit card debt, many entrepreneurs aggressively use existing cards to finance a startup.

Private Equity 106

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 106

OnlyOnce

JULY 26, 2018

Or you negotiate the highest possible valuation from a new lead investor, only to discover that new lead investor, now on your Board, expects you to triple it in four years and is way out of alignment with the rest of your cap table. On the other side, what’s an example of a “good” loss?

Cap Table 48

Cap Table Lead Investor Valuation Reputation 48

Eric Friedman

JUNE 27, 2016

I have seen what I call “predatory advisors” come in and really mess up a cap table by promising big intros and sales contracts only to disappear after the first 6-12 months. So what most companies do is get FMV from a 409A valuation and use that for their strike price.

Equity 98

Equity Vesting Cap Table Common Stock 98

ithacaVC

APRIL 10, 2012

To put it bluntly, why should a founder, who knows that he/she will have little salary when they start their startup accrue the “lost” salary on the company’s books? It is part of the startup routine, prior to fund raising, to bootstrap and be super frugal. To me this makes perfect sense and is justified.

Cap Table 49

Cap Table Pre-Money Valuation Stock Options Due Diligence 49