ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 28, 2010

Do More Faster: TechStars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup is the new book by David Cohen , founder and CEO of TechStars, and Brad Feld , managing director of Foundry Group. Below is his chapter, Avoid Co-Founder Conflict. A perennial favorite is to decide that each founder should own an equal share. For what reasons?

Cofounder 128

Cofounder Founder Equity Dilution 128

Agile VC

DECEMBER 4, 2014

I like to say that “there are only co-founders” — it’s extraordinarily rare for a successful business to have just a sole founder. But not all co-founders are equal in terms of title, ownership, responsibilities, and so forth. Sometimes co-founders put off the equity split question for some time.

Cofounder 255

Cofounder Equity Founder Sweat Equity 255

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 2, 2011

Jane and Dick, our fearless cofounders of SayAhh, have set up an accounting system and created their first set of financial statements. The founders each have common shares that will vest over four years. Equity is split 55% and 45%, but where is that officially recorded? Praveena wants to invest $20,000 and get 20% equity.

Cap Table 133

Cap Table CTO Hire Technical Cofounder Cofounder 133

Agile VC

DECEMBER 4, 2014

I like to say that “there are only co-founders” — it’s extraordinarily rare for a successful business to have just a sole founder. But not all co-founders are equal in terms of title, ownership, responsibilities, and so forth. Sometimes co-founders put off the equity split question for some time.

Cofounder 173

Cofounder Equity Founder Sweat Equity 173

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

(co-written with Jamie Finney, Founding Partner at Greater Colorado Venture Fund. From RBI, Flexible VCs borrow the ability to reap meaningful returns without demanding founders build for an exit. From traditional equity VC, Flexible VC borrows the option to pursue and reap the rewards of an outsized exit. Of the Inc.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Up and Running

JUNE 14, 2012

Do I need a co-founder? These are some of the most frequent questions about co-founders that I have heard from entrepreneurs over the years. Do I need a co-founder? How many co-founders should I have? I have seen many successful companies with as few as 2 and as many of 11 co-founders.

Cofounder 90

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Accredited Investor Equity 90

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

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2011

I covered what I call “the co-founder mythology.&# Either you’re not technical and you think you need a technical co-founder or vice-versa. Conventional wisdom says that you gain far more in working as a team than you lose by diluted by half before you start. Hire your co-founder.

Cofounder 393

Cofounder Founder Vesting Founder Vesting 393

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

Every entrepreneur needs to understand the following basics, to be addressed at company formation, as they engage a qualified attorney to draw up the paperwork: Allocate founder’s stock commensurate with commitment. Key founder vesting should have no cliff. This is called stock dilution control.

Stock 240

Stock .Net Vesting Founder Vesting 240

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

Deciding whether to increase money or trade equity in the business for much needed assistance, could be a tough call. I raised money and traded equity, but with my venture, I had to make one of the toughest decisions, to build it with some assistance of co-founders. Find the right co-founders.

Cofounder 124

Cofounder Sweat Equity Equity Dilution 124

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

Nowhere is the politics more difficult than with co-founders, which is why for years I’ve spoken publicly about “ the co-founder mythology.” ” Of course we all go into businesses expecting to be aligned with our co-founders but over time life changes. Equity for the future?

Founder 340

Founder Sacramento Cofounder Technical Review 340

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2022

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders quandaries in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Should you start a company solo or find co-founders to help you? The downside is loss of control and financial dilution.

Founder 325

Founder Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event 325

View from Seed

DECEMBER 4, 2014

Editor’s note: Understanding how to divide founder equity at a startup can be tricky, even to the point of reaching emotional riffs between founders. Below, Lee Hower offers advice for approaching these equity discussions objectively and properly.

Equity 315

Equity Founder Sweat Equity Cofounder 315

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 18, 2024

Some of these folks are founders and CEOs, but not at high-growth tech startups. On the other hand, they could be the opposite—much more focused on near-term cash distributions than long-term equity appreciation. Role When I was a lowly Analyst at Union Square Ventures, I had so many ideas for the founders we worked with.

.Net 88

.Net Cap Table Startup Technical Review 88

Gust

APRIL 11, 2014

Let’s get right down to business: Dilution of founders’ and other early shareholders’ equity in startups is frequently a subject of intense interest and debate. That’s the concept of what some call mathematical dilution. That is not economic dilution, but rather its opposite ( accretion ).

Dilution 162

Dilution Equity Pre-Money Valuation Prospectus 162

www.avc.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Employee Equity: How Much? The most common comment in this long and complicated MBA Mondays series on Employee Equity is the question of how much equity should you grant when you make a hire. And the amount of equity you need to grant to accomplish these hires is also an art and most certainly not a science.

Equity 64

Equity Employee CTO Hire Fractional CTO 64

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2021

Every entrepreneur needs to understand the following basics, to be addressed at company formation, as they engage a qualified attorney to draw up the paperwork: Allocate founder’s stock commensurate with commitment. Key founder vesting should have no cliff. This is called stock dilution control.

Vesting 298

Vesting Dilution Stock Founder Vesting 298

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

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

. “We’re all equal co-founders and we don’t care about titles.&# I usually encourage people to think about titles like, “Founder & CTO&# or “Founder & VP Marketing.&#. Dilute your cash, equity or both. and my favorite]. But it will not help your business grow faster.

Operations 292

Operations CTO Hire Startup Early Stage 292

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

Every startup needs to start their funding search looking for grants, with no equity dilution, as well as contests and foundations. Attract a co-founder and key team members. Other project and research reports in their library are a rich source of new ideas, if you are still looking for a place to start.

Arizona 276

Arizona Intellectual Property Accredited Investor Entrepreneur 276

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

What is it, and how should founders think about it? Glen Mello: Venture debt is a good complement to equity. It’s generally got a lower cost compared to equity capital and can help support growth. So it makes it a lot more challenging when you have debt on the books that isn’t as longer term as equity.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 24, 2013

One of the challenges for investing in startups has always been the lack of an established way for founders and investors to actually measure and decide on the valuation of the startup concerned. “If you are an angel investor and a venture is seeking capital from you, insist on getting its Worthworm report.

Pre-Money Valuation 150

Pre-Money Valuation Web Technical Review Angel Investor 150

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2010

years ago and told me, “I just got offered the chance to buy this company because the founder doesn’t want to continue. I can save tons of development time and I think I can buy it for all equity. How much dilution should I take for it?&# My friend’s company was pre-revenue. Me: “Zero dilution.

Merger 276

Merger Technical Review Early Stage Dilution 276

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

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. Parker found that equity as compensation helped build loyalty to his company -- even among consultants. But sharing equity can have pitfalls, too.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

Altgate

DECEMBER 15, 2010

@altgate Startups, Venture Capital & Everything In Between Skip to content Home Furqan Nazeeri (fn@altgate.com) ← No one wants to tell you your baby is ugly More on Liquidation Preferences → Pre-Money Valuation vs Number of Founders Posted on December 15, 2010 by admin Here’s a chart of the day worth sharing.

Pre-Money Valuation 66

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Cofounder Founder 66

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2019

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders quandaries in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Should you start a company solo or find co-founders to help you? The downside is loss of control and financial dilution.

Hockey Stick 243

Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event Startup 243

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 4, 2019

L to R: Tiara Zolniez (Co-Founder & Sales), Dr. Roshawnna Novellus (Co-Founder & CEO), Alisha Griffey (COO) The Forrest Four-Cast: February 4, 2019 Fifty diverse startups will aim to impress a panel of judges and a live audience with their skills, creativity and innovation at SXSW Pitch Presented by Cyndx.

Startup 50

Startup Cofounder Technical Review Equity 50

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2020

Every startup needs to start their funding search looking for grants, with no equity dilution, as well as contests and foundations. Attract a co-founder and key team members. Other project and research reports in their library are a rich source of new ideas, if you are still looking for a place to start.

Arizona 310

Arizona Intellectual Property Accredited Investor Dividend 310

Andrew Payne

SEPTEMBER 9, 2017

I’ve probably had a thousand or more discussions about startup equity: figuring out how much to offer, negotiating, or advising others. In practice, most equity grants within a company are driven by broad calibrations with existing employees. And, how can founders talk about percentages before any funding?

Equity 71

Equity Founder Vesting Dilution 71

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 7, 2017

Employee options pools, typically created at the point of financings, shouldn’t be treated as haggling over dilution, but rather a strategic resource that will help founders build the best team and, by extension, a more valuable company.

Equity 94

Equity Pre-Money Valuation Option Pool Founder 94

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

The Next Web

OCTOBER 10, 2013

Two more entrepreneurial ventures later, Gleb cofounded online backup provider Backblaze to help consumers affordably, automatically, and safely back up their data. What are the pros and cons of starting a business alone versus with cofounders? How many founders are too many? One” – You have to have a cofounder.

Cofounder 143

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Kenya Dilution 143

Hippoland

APRIL 10, 2016

Dear elizy : I started a company in school with two co-founders. We are trying to decide how much equity to allocate to each person. I would like to split the equity equally, since it seems only fair. But, Ada wants to split the equity 50% her, 20% Bob and 20% me with a 10% option pool.

Cofounder 48

Cofounder Cap Table Equity Vesting 48

ReadWriteStart

JULY 18, 2011

Clavier began his presentation at the beginning of a company's lifecycle, asking how many co-founders a startup ought to have. If you like this kind of advice, check out my coverage of a talk by Paul Palmieri, Co-Founder and CEO of mobile advertising service Millennial Media, titled " Investing in Your Influencers. ".

Investment Bankers 153

Investment Bankers Technical Review Cofounder Due Diligence 153

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2014

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup Founders dilemmas in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Should you start a company solo or find co-Founders to help you? The downside is loss of control and financial dilution.

Hockey Stick 268

Hockey Stick Cofounder Entrepreneur Liquidity Event 268

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

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2017

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders dilemmas in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Should you start a company solo or find co-founders to help you? The downside is loss of control and financial dilution.

Hockey Stick 144

Hockey Stick Cofounder Entrepreneur Liquidity Event 144