Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

My advice to entrepreneurs was and is “ when the hors d’oeuvres tray is being passed take two ” (e.g. So I agreed to offer my current thinking on the economy and what it portends for the VC industry & fund raising for entrepreneurs. What does this mean if you’re an entrepreneur? raise money now to weather any storms).

Entrepreneur 298

Entrepreneur Technical Review Balance Sheet Government 298

The Next Web

JULY 21, 2013

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Güimar Vaca Sittic , a two time Internet entrepreneur currently working at Quasar Ventures based in Buenos Aires, and a Startup Chile Judge. Being an entrepreneur is all about enthusiasm and energy. You have an awesome idea and a great co-founder with whom you want to work.

Vesting 143

Vesting Founder Chile Equity 143

David Teten

MAY 7, 2019

The CEO is ideally a successful serial entrepreneur who has taken a startup all the way to an exit. For more on what I’m seeking, see The 8 characteristics of the perfect startup team and Early Teams: The Impact of Team Demography on VC Financing and Going Public. See Should you co-found a company with your friend?

America 60

America Technical Review Advisory Board Due Diligence 60

David Teten

JULY 10, 2019

The CEO is ideally a successful serial entrepreneur who has taken a startup all the way to an exit. We agree on an equity split, vesting, and initial compensation structure. See Should you co-found a company with your friend? However, we’ll consider first-time CEOs. You must have a strong product management pedigree.

America 60

America Technical Review Advisory Board Due Diligence 60

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 2, 2011

Here are five of the most common examples: Failure to document a founder agreement at the beginning. This oversight can lead to the so-called “forgotten founder” problem. Early co-founders often drop out of the picture due to disagreements, and you forget about them, but they don’t forget about the verbal promises you made.

Non-Compete 246

Non-Compete Accredited Investor Entrepreneur Cofounder 246

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 7, 2013

Here are five of the most common examples: Failure to document a Founder agreement at the beginning. This oversight can lead to the so-called “forgotten Founder” problem. Later, when your venture is trying to close on financing, or even going public, that forgotten partner surfaces, demanding their original share.

Non-Compete 235

Non-Compete Accredited Investor Startup Cofounder 235

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

JULY 10, 2012

Here are five of the most common examples: Failure to document a Founder agreement at the beginning. This oversight can lead to the so-called “forgotten founder” problem. Later, when your venture is trying to close on financing, or even going public, that forgotten partner surfaces, demanding their original share.

Non-Compete 249

Non-Compete Accredited Investor Cofounder Startup 249

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 11, 2017

The press release lays out Joe Zhu’s business accomplishments, but we at the magazine have seen firsthand Joe Zhu’s work behind the scenes helping struggling startups with advice and counsel on both business strategy and funding, even when he has no vested interest.

Illinois 78

Illinois Chicago Entrepreneur Cofounder 78

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Finance | Tuesdays. Entrepreneur news from reporter Eric Markowitz. Financing a Small Business. Financing A Small Business. Personal Finance. Before Roving Software could receive its first round of financing from professional investors, in early 1999, he had to put all the stock arrangements in writing.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

To learn more about this space, I suggest join an online community I co-founded, PEVCTech. . Small investment firms often have interns and entrepreneurs in residence passing through, each of which is a security risk. I walk through below how progressive investors are using technology and analytics throughout all of their operations.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 2, 2015

Resilience – the ability to bounce back from adversity – is one of the key attributes of entrepreneurs and was the focus of my first weekly radio show, Entrepreneurs are Everywhere , on Sirius XM Radio Channel 111. Kathryn shared the painful lessons she learned when her first startup fell apart. Broken startup dreams.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur New York Cofounder Equity 120

www.chubbybrain.com

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

We love a good entrepreneurial success story – entrepreneur as protagonist overcomes obstacles and builds a thriving, successful company (and become wealthy while doing so). Go vest yourself. When a co-founder walks out of a company — as was the case for me — you’ve already been dealt a heavy blow.

Software Review 79

Software Review Startup Technical Review Vesting 79

thestartuplawyer.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

He obviously never launched a startup and got shafted by a co-founder. He obviously never launched a startup and got shafted by a co-founder. He obviously never launched a startup and got shafted by a co-founder. You can start by examining every aspect of the co-founder relationship.

Cofounder 40

Cofounder Founder Preferred Stock Startup 40

Gust

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Entrepreneurs and investors who have spent any time dealing with convertible debt seed financing transactions are likely to have encountered the subject of valuation caps. The cap is irrelevant if the next equity financing is at a valuation below the cap amount.) was spun out, and the valuation was set by that financing round.

Valuation 98

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Merger Vesting 98

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

The Next Web

DECEMBER 29, 2013

To find out, I asked a panel of successful entrepreneurs from the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) , the following question: What do you think will be the new “it” social- or content-related job in 2014 for startups and why? John Hall , Influence & Co. . Andrew Schrage , Money Crashers Personal Finance. .

Social Media 164

Social Media Vesting Distribution 164

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 19, 2010

Here are some examples: Failure to document a founder agreement at the beginning. This shortcut can lead to the so-called “forgotten founder” problem. Early co-founders often drop out of the picture due to disagreements, and you forget about them, but they don’t forget about the verbal promises you made. Marty Zwilling.

Non-Compete 125

Non-Compete Accredited Investor Startup Cofounder 125

www.quora.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Type to Add and Search Questions; Search Topics and People Startups Startup Compensation Entrepreneurship Compensation Stock Options Major Internet Companies Silicon Valley Why is there such a large founder to early employee equity drop-off? The barrier between entrepreneur and money (incubators, angels, etc.) is lowered.

Equity 40

Equity Employee Founder Cofounder 40

venturehacks.com

MARCH 21, 2008

Normal advisors are also assembled by naive entrepreneurs who think the mere presence of an advisory board will create social proof and help them raise money. The options typically vest monthly over 1-2 years with 100% single-trigger acceleration and no cliff. Does this stake need to have vesting schedule?

Advisory Board 44

Advisory Board Cap Table Vesting Equity 44

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

Yesterday we went over some the ways entrepreneurs can set themselves up for success with VCs by building a relationship far before they ever need funding. NextView Ventures co-founder Rob Go admitted last month to being unaware of this aspect of the venture capital industry when he entered it.

Management 115

Management Vesting Angel Investor Startup 115

Gust

DECEMBER 8, 2011

I urge all entrepreneurs to consult and develop a good working relationship with a qualified startup lawyer. Likewise, founders can benefit from understanding basic characteristics of the overall legal structure, formation and governance documents, rights and responsibilities of team members, etc. Newco, Inc.”)

Intellectual Property 139

Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement Delaware Stock 139

maplebutter.com

JANUARY 8, 2013

If you’re an Entrepreneur, you can do it from any place in the world. How important is education when I know I want to be an entrepreneur? Whats is the best way to find a co-founder for your startup? However, one of my co-founders doesn’t seem to be as motivated as the rest of us. We need more.

Technical Review 44

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Software Review 44

www.copelandfirm.com

OCTOBER 21, 2010

Home About Fee Arrangements Location Referrals Testimonials Business Law HUB Certification Mergers & Acquisitions Startup Advice Intellectual Property Copyrights Trademarks Securities Law Debt and Bridge Financing Series A Startup Law Entity Formation Corporation LLC Series LLC RSS Founders Shares: How do you split them up?

Intellectual Property 40

Intellectual Property Founder Vesting Bridge Financing 40

blog.simeonov.com

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

Simeon, can you tell us how you structure ownership and control so you can fire your co-founders if necessary? The first part will dispel some myths, address the lifecycle of founder agreements and the key compensation and control parameters in them. Let’s start by dispelling some myths: There is a standard founder agreement.

Founder 44

Founder Vesting Agile Startup 44

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

I’d like to explain as best I can my opinion on what is going on because most of what I hear from entrepreneurs is not only wrong but is reminiscent of what I heard in 1997-2000. ” “This will be great for VCs and bad for entrepreneurs.” What is the True Sentiment of VCs? ” “Sure, prices are dropping.

Valuation 150

Valuation Down Round Startup Later Stage 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2010

If I ever say anything less than positive, I have no vested interests in doing so. In addition to the P2P deals covered below, on the show we also talked about some of my favorite financing startups ( Wonga in the UK run by Errol Damelin , who is a superstar) and Affordit.com run by serial (and I mean serial!) 5.0mm in Series B.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Social Network Angel Investor Chad 265

www.readwriteweb.com

FEBRUARY 23, 2010

7: Invest in Advisors : Give away a small amount of stock to advisors (which they can vest after a few years) who you can call on in a pickle or for general advice as issues arise. Photo credit: althecat See Also The Startup Financing Dating Game: Courting Potential Investors Be Prepared! Invest in Advisors. my favorite.

Entrepreneur 69

Entrepreneur Venture Capital San Francisco New Zealand 69

venturehacks.com

OCTOBER 21, 2010

Reading on, the term sheet states, “The $8 million pre-money valuation includes an option pool equal to 20% of the post-financing fully diluted capitalization.&# Third, if you sell the company before the Series B, all un-issued and un-vested options will be cancelled. Do you mean the shares go to the founders?

Option Pool 68

Option Pool Pre-Money Valuation Dilution Warrant 68