View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Depending on the composition of the founding team, you might or might not have near-term holes in certain functions at the exec level – e.g. you’ll most likely need to bring on a CTO/VP of Engineering shortly after the seed round if you don’t have a technical co-founder.

Part-Time VPE 195

Part-Time VPE Seed Stage CTO Hire Forecast 195

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2017

I read commentary or Twitter or blogs and realize that there are also strongly held convictions that there are these evil VCs who do terrible things to mostly altruistic founders. But unlike the popular press reporting of this conflict — 80% of the time it is founder-to-founder conflict and not investor-to-founder conflict.

Cofounder 217

Cofounder Stock Options Equity Technical Review 217

blog.captainrecruiter.com

MARCH 8, 2012

Technical Co-Founders Are A Myth. Two years ago I got the bug to do an online recruiting startup and I began the hunt to find a technical co-founder - a software engineer who works for no cash - to help me build my dream website. I learned something: technical co-founders are a myth. Captain Recruiter.

Cofounder 40

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Founder Software Engineering 40

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 14, 2022

Most entrepreneurs who start a company alone soon come to the conclusion that two heads are better than one – someone to share the workload, the hard decisions, costs, and tasks you don’t like. In a moment of crisis, you may be tempted to take on the first person expressing interest as a co-founder. It usually doesn’t work.

Partner 351

Partner Cofounder Sweat Equity Startup 351

www.entrepreneur.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Entrepreneur Homepage Startups Starting a Business Home How-To Guides Startup Basics Business Ideas Business Planning Startup Financing Success Stories Home-Based Business Starting a Business Play Video How to Take a New Product from Just an Idea to a Business (Video). Financing Some Jobs Act Proposals Make Headway. July 31, 2007 |.

Sweat Equity 55

Sweat Equity Equity Fractional CTO CTO 55

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

This structure offers some of the benefits of traditional equity VC, without some of the negatives of equity VC. I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital. For background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 12, 2013

Most entrepreneurs who start a company alone soon come to the conclusion that two heads are better than one – someone to share the workload, the hard decisions, and the costs. In a moment of crisis, you may be tempted to take on the first person expressing interest as a co-founder. We both have the same vision.” Marty Zwilling.

Cofounder 240

Cofounder Founder Sweat Equity Startup 240

www.startuplessonslearned.com

MAY 4, 2012

Founders Dilemmas: Equity Splits. The following is an excerpt from HBS Professor Noam Wasserman’s new book, The Founders Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup. On average, the founders who keep the most control over their company make the least amount of money. Lessons Learned.

Equity 72

Equity Founder Technical Cofounder Cofounder 72

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2012

Most entrepreneurs who start a company alone soon come to the conclusion that two heads are better than one – someone to share the workload, the hard decisions, and the costs. In a moment of crisis, you may be tempted to take on the first person expressing interest as a co-founder. We both have the same vision.”

Cofounder 244

Cofounder Founder Sweat Equity Partner 244

www.virtuosimedia.com

MARCH 8, 2012

Home ▶ Businesses ▶ Startup Business Advice ▶ Current Page How To Find A Technical Cofounder For Your Online Business Idea. This article should also serve as a starting guide for programmers who are approached about becoming technical co-founders. Before You Pitch To A Technical Cofounder.

Technical Cofounder 41

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Technical Review NDA 41

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

Does the traditional VC financing model make sense for all companies? I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital. Though RBI will displace some traditional equity VC, its much bigger impact will be to expand the pool of capital available for early-stage entrepreneurs.

Revenue 60

Revenue Term Sheet Founder Technical Review 60

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 3, 2011

Most entrepreneurs who start a company alone soon come to the conclusion that two heads are better than one – someone to share the workload, the hard decisions, and the costs. This would be a mistake, and could easily cost you your startup. I’ll put in the money, if you put in the sweat equity.” We both have the same vision.”

Cofounder 239

Cofounder Founder Sweat Equity Startup 239

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2015

That’s why I recommend that they find a co-founder who loves business challenges, including marketing and finance. Most founders bootstrap product development. The best technologies are barely invisible and low cost. The right marketing efforts can cost as much as the technology.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Intellectual Property Cofounder Bootstrapping 120

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 7, 2017

by Hannah Sieber, co-founder and COO of EcoFlow Tech. While many think about crowdfunding as a top-line sales number, it’s critical to evaluate all the costs associated with the campaign, as the balance between raise and spend absolutely factors into your outcomes. The first spend – website and campaign development.

Campaign 145

Campaign San Francisco Technical Review Flash 145

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2023

Billionaire entrepreneur and "Shark Tank" co-host Mark Cuban is an outspoken proponent of the all-in early approach in a video interview, and made it clear that he gives no credibility and low odds to founders seeking funding who have not fully committed their time and efforts to their cause.

Private Equity 255

Private Equity Salary Cofounder Equity 255

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 25, 2018

It’s taken the Toronto executive from the world of Big 3 Accounting (as a CPA with PricewaterhouseCoopers in his early career) to Investment Banking(National Bank Financial) and capital markets (co-founding Eight Capital after leading the management buyout of Dundee Capital Markets). There’s more than just getting the money to survive?

Partner 113

Partner Technical Review Management Due Diligence 113

Altgate

JUNE 25, 2012

Re-posted from post co-authored with Prof. —————– Dead equity — equity held by employees and founders no longer working at the company — is a large and growing problem. Choe opted to forgo a cash payment “in the thousands” for the equity equivalent at the time.

Equity 44

Equity Vesting Cap Table Technical Review 44

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Finance | Tuesdays. Financing a Small Business. Financing A Small Business. Personal Finance. Should You Share Equity with Consultants? To grow his cash-strapped start-up, Parker ended up sharing equity -- not only with employees, but also with consultants and vendors. Start-up | Mondays. How to Incorporate.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2010

Most entrepreneurs who start a company alone soon come to the conclusion that two heads are better than one – someone to share the workload, the hard decisions, and the costs. This would be a mistake, and could easily cost you your startup. I’ll put in the money, if you put in the sweat equity.” We both have the same vision.”

Cofounder 207

Cofounder Founder Sweat Equity Startup 207

Feld Thoughts

JULY 29, 2011

Finance Friday’s gets off the ground with today’s post by introducing you to an imaginary startup, the entrepreneurs that we’ll being following throughout the series, and their first challenges: splitting up the founders’ equity and addressing the case where one of the founders provides the initial seed capital for the business.

Equity 137

Equity Finance Pre-Money Valuation Denver 137

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 1, 2016

by Krista Morgan, CEO and co-founder of P2BInvestor. Full disclosure – any kind of financing comes with costs, whether it’s interest payments, equity, and/or your very valuable time which, as an entrepreneur, is the thing you will always wish you had more of. Purchase order financing. Angel Investors.

Finance 100

Finance Angel Investor Cofounder Later Stage 100

Startup Company Lawyer

MARCH 14, 2010

After the recent announcement of the Series Seed Financing documents by Marc Andreesen, Brad Feld points out that there are now four sets of “open source&# equity seed financing documents: TechStars Model Seed Funding Documents (by Cooley). Y Combinator Series AA Equity Financing Documents (by WSGR).

Finance 70

Finance Software Review Term Sheet Liquidation Preference 70

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 24, 2012

The following is an excerpt from HBS Professor Noam Wasserman’s new book, The Founder's Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup. The book taps Noam’s analyses of data on 10,000 founders, plus the personal stories of Evan Williams of Twitter, Tim Westergren of Pandora, and two dozen other founders.

Equity 168

Equity Founder Cofounder Vesting 168

Altgate

AUGUST 25, 2012

Re-posted from post co-authored with Prof. —————– Dead equity — equity held by employees and founders no longer working at the company — is a large and growing problem. Choe opted to forgo a cash payment “in the thousands” for the equity equivalent at the time.

Equity 28

Equity Vesting Cap Table Technical Review 28

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2020

Billionaire entrepreneur and "Shark Tank" co-host Mark Cuban is an outspoken proponent of the all-in early approach in a video interview, and made it clear that he gives no credibility and low odds to founders seeking funding who have not fully committed their time and efforts to their cause.

Entrepreneur 321

Entrepreneur Private Equity Startup Salary 321

David Teten

JANUARY 9, 2013

Partners for a New Beginning (PNB), a public-private partnership housed at the Aspen Institute, is organizing a Venture Capital, Private Equity and Angel Investor Delegation from the Maghreb. If you would like to be a speaker or simply attend any of the programs below, at no cost, contact Katherine St.

Tunisia 114

Tunisia Libya Algeria Mauritania 114

www.drowningamerican.com

JUNE 22, 2012

Next → How to Hire for Sweat Equity…. model of offering a more valuable product at no cost to the user (think Mint.Com). That being said the following is available to the right candidate: • 3-5% equity in the company (based on experience). • $50,000/year salary once we obtain funding (target: January, 2010).

Sweat Equity 40

Sweat Equity Equity Hiring Technical Review 40

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2019

Image via Pixabay Most entrepreneurs who start a company alone soon come to the conclusion that two heads are better than one – someone to share the workload, the hard decisions, and the costs. In a moment of crisis, you may be tempted to take on the first person expressing interest as a co-founder. It usually doesn’t work.

Partner 177

Partner Sweat Equity Cofounder Equity 177

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

Cheered on by finance professors, Wall Street analysts, investors and hedge funds, companies have learned how to make metrics like Internal Rate of Return look great by one; outsourcing everything, two, getting assets off their balance sheet, and three only investing in things that pay off fast. We legalized robbing the corporate treasury.

Private Equity 325

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 325

David Teten

JANUARY 21, 2021

(co-written with Jamie Finney, Founding Partner at Greater Colorado Venture Fund. This essay is part of a series on alternative VC: I: Revenue-Based Investing: a new option for founders who care about control. III: Why are Revenue-Based VCs investing in so many women and underrepresented founders?

Equity 78

Equity Revenue Cofounder Colorado 78

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2017

Most entrepreneurs who start a company alone soon come to the conclusion that two heads are better than one – someone to share the workload, the hard decisions, and the costs. In a moment of crisis, you may be tempted to take on the first person expressing interest as a co-founder. We both have the same vision.”

Partner 149

Partner Cofounder Sweat Equity Startup 149

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 28, 2010

VC Financings: 1. It seems the focus on “virtual&# goods has been both the demo of the consumer as well as the fact that by definition virtual goods have almost no marginal costs to the seller so giving a huge slice to the carrier (and Zong) isn’t a problem since actual costs are ~ $0. 15mm in Series A.

Venture Capital 270

Venture Capital Cofounder Spain San Diego 270

Up and Running

DECEMBER 23, 2019

One of the most important decisions a new business owner can make is how they’re going to finance their venture. . Sweat Equity. “I This way your biggest cost is just your personal time. Your first proof of concept can be done without a technical co-founder or a lot of money. Inexpensive Freelance Labor.

Finance 92

Finance Sweat Equity Bootstrapping Entrepreneur 92

Up and Running

AUGUST 17, 2015

Additionally, I had already studied Economics and Finance during undergrad, making the academic part of an MBA seem a little redundant. This can be particularly important for founders with “non-traditional” career backgrounds. I was fortunate enough to meet one of my cofounders during the first week of business school.

Entrepreneur 60

Entrepreneur Cofounder Angel Investor eCommerce 60

Eric Friedman

JUNE 27, 2016

Bigger/better advisors who get more equity have things like; excellent domain expertise to help you avoid pitfalls, deep connections within the industry to help with the intros, partnerships, and more. Big strategic advisors are the folks that add credibility to your co. from a 10 year old co.

Equity 98

Equity Vesting Cap Table Common Stock 98

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 14, 2017

by Andrew Durlak, Co-Founder & VP of Operations at Scout RFP. These auctions are a great way to develop constructive competition within the vendor space and can help businesses reduce purchasing costs, while still getting high quality materials or services — ensuring that all their needs are met.

Due Diligence 140

Due Diligence Private Equity Cofounder Finance 140

David Teten

AUGUST 21, 2019

Most founders who are raising capital look first to traditional equity VCs. Revenue-Based Investing (“RBI”) is a new form of VC financing, distinct from the preferred equity structure most VCs use. For more background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. Optionality.

Revenue 60

Revenue Liquidation Preference Equity Cofounder 60