Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

” From the hyperbolic Jason Calacanis weighing in that “The petty VC’s did everything to deride [Naval, the co-founder of AngelList]” as though the industry was collectively s g its pants that AngelList was going to put us out of business. founder fighting. founder fighting. Both are right.

Syndicate 356

Syndicate Syndication Cofounder Early Stage 356

Steve Blank

MAY 19, 2015

While he kept bringing the conversation back to their big valuation I tried to steer the conversation back to how they were going to deal with: training the influx of new hires – in both culture and job specific tasks. retaining their existing hires who were working for intern-like salaries with little equity. the company had.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Salary Early Stage Software Review 120

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Should You Share Equity with Consultants? Back in 1997, Randy Parker was staring at a blank whiteboard, wondering where hed find the money to hire the employees and consultants he needed to build his new product. "We Parker found that equity as compensation helped build loyalty to his company -- even among consultants.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

Scott Edward Walker

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

Question My co-founders and I are working on a cool new site, and we’ll be ready to launch in a few weeks. We have no money – so we’re going to do the legal ourselves. (And please don’t tell us to hire a lawyer.) Vesting Restrictions. The first deadly mistake relates to vesting restrictions.

Vesting 89

Vesting Software Review IP Intellectual Property 89

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

The Next Web

AUGUST 26, 2013

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Christian Reber, CEO and co-founder of Berlin-based 6Wunderkinder. Today, in steps 10-12 I want to discuss with you raising your first round of money, hiring to develop and maintain your company culture, as well as defining your role in the management of your startup.

Management 120

Management Cofounder Startup Bootstrapping 120

Eric Friedman

JUNE 27, 2016

This is the classic “hire people smarter than you” which is harder said than done. Total = 0.75% for 3 advisors that vest as you see fit to help you over the next 1–4 years (more on vesting below). Big strategic advisors are the folks that add credibility to your co. from a 10 year old co. Vesting Schedules.

Equity 98

Equity Vesting Cap Table Common Stock 98

David Teten

OCTOBER 1, 2015

Should you co-found your company with a software development shop? Not surprisingly, the list above also is ranked from least to most equity stake in an investment for the investor, relative to the cash they invest. The question is: how should they be compensated when cofounding a company? mentor VCs, e.g., most VCs. The cliffs?

Software Developers 60

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Technical Cofounder 60

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 18, 2009

Yesterday I wrote a blog post ( here ) in which I urged people to not have too many founders. What if the person performs OK, but not great and you need to hire above him? These situations are only compounded if you have 3 or more founders. They agreed to all be co-founders. Who prevails? That’s great.

Founder 251

Founder Cofounder Equity Stock Options 251

infochachkie.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Instead of hearing from your long lost third-cousin, you will be inundated with an avalanche of ‘congratulatory’ emails, calls and letters from people who want to relieve you of the burden of your hard-earned equity round. Many such ‘congratulations’ will come from consultants. Pyramid Power. John is a CPA and holds an M.B.A.

Equity 40

Equity Silicon Valley Cofounder Technical Review 40

venturehacks.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

SUPPORTED BY Products Archives @venturehacks Books AngelList About RSS How to pick a co-founder by Naval Ravikant on November 12th, 2009 Update : Also see our 40-minute interview on this topic. Picking a co-founder is your most important decision. One founder companies can work, against the odds (hello, Mark Zuckerberg).

Cofounder 101

Cofounder Founder Technical Cofounder Technical Review 101

venturehacks.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

The Equity Equation. As this nuclear winter of venture hacks continues, I thought you might enjoy our thoughts on Paul Graham’s The Equity Equation. ” Read the rest of The Equity Equation first; it is great. You have to pay market rates regardless of the equity equation. If no, she is a no hire.

Equity 40

Equity Cap Table Valuation RSS 40

Gust

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

In brief, a cap acts to place a limit on the conversion price of a convertible note such that investors are guaranteed a minimum number of shares for their bridge loans if the startup does a priced equity round at a high pre-money valuation – “high” meaning above the cap, which is often a heavily negotiated term. (The by February 2006).

Valuation 98

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Merger Vesting 98

Scott Edward Walker

OCTOBER 27, 2015

We charge a flat fee of $2,000, plus filing fees, for up to three co-founders and it includes unlimited phone calls and emails. Thus, founders never have to worry about picking-up the phone and asking their lawyers questions. Indeed, we have done more than 300 Startup Packages and the appeal is obvious: no billable hours.

Intellectual Property 40

Intellectual Property Accredited Investor Vesting Delaware 40

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.

Non-Compete 125

Non-Compete Accredited Investor Startup Cofounder 125

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

Mike Arsenault and his two co-founders—all with technical backgrounds—built their MVP while working full time for other SaaS companies. “We An engineer by training, Founder and CEO Larry Gadea built the MVP of Envoy’s first product, Visitors, by himself using only free versions of software. “I spent $1k on their MVP.

Sweat Equity 78

Sweat Equity Software Review Vesting Cofounder 78

thinkspace.com

SEPTEMBER 7, 2012

How to Divide Equity to Startup Founders, Advisors, and Employees. The part that I’d like to zero in on is when you’ve got a high growth company what are some of the best practices out there to distribute equity to the founders, advisors, and employees? Equity for Founders. Equity for Employees.

Equity 62

Equity Employee Founder CTO Hire 62

Pascal's View

DECEMBER 30, 2012

While every company founder makes trade-offs in building a company, few entrepreneurs appreciate the far-reaching implications of several critical decisions they will are required to make at the outset of a startup’s evolution. Most founders tend to make decisions with no process, based on their gut instincts.

Cofounder 34

Cofounder Liquidation Preference Vesting Equity 34

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Private equity and venture capital investors are copying our sisters in the hedge fund world: we’re trying to automate more of our job. . To learn more about this space, I suggest join an online community I co-founded, PEVCTech. . In the private equity universe, most Partners have primary training as deal-makers, not as managers.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

ithacaVC

OCTOBER 16, 2011

What happens when a purported “full time” co-founder decides to scale back prior to actual incorporation of the legal entity. Let’s call this person Founder L (L for “leaving”). And let’s call the other founder Founder C (C for “continuing”).

Vesting 56

Vesting Cofounder Equity Dilution 56

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

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

Mike Arsenault and his two co-founders—all with technical backgrounds—built their MVP while working full time for other SaaS companies. “We An engineer by training, Founder and CEO Larry Gadea built the MVP of Envoy’s first product, Visitors, by himself using only free versions of software. “I spent $1k on their MVP.

Sweat Equity 50

Sweat Equity Software Review Vesting Cofounder 50

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? This ties into this Paul Graham article: [link] /equity.

Equity 40

Equity Employee Founder Cofounder 40

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I gave him the same advice I give nearly all over-worked, control-freak, do-everything-yourself startup founders: “Your number one priority isn’t any of these things. Your highest priority right now is hiring the 1 or 2 people that are going to join your company and make a difference. That’s one model.

Seattle 317

Seattle Silicon Valley Technical Review Los Angeles 317

maplebutter.com

JANUARY 8, 2013

You are here: Home » Hiring » Crazy! Written By Dan Martell on February 2nd, 2012 | Category: Hiring LeanStartup Marketing Metrics Startup Life | 6 Comments. Whats is the best way to find a co-founder for your startup? Ability to hire top talent (A+ talent). you can hire for those. Maple Butter.

Technical Review 44

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Software Review 44

Ben's Blog

APRIL 28, 2010

In this post, I describe why we prefer to fund companies whose founder will run the company as its CEO. As we looked at the history of great technology companies, we discovered that founders ran an overwhelming majority of them for a very long time, including: Acer—Stan Shih. Siebel—Tom Siebel. Sony—Akio Morita. Sun—Scott McNeely.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 78

The Startup Toolkit

JANUARY 10, 2017

The most common (and emotional) screwing you’ll get in a startup is via your cofounders. First, some examples: A buddy of mine had done the hard work of finding two excellent tech cofounders. It’s not just cofounders. But because they have equity, cofounder screwings are different. ” Etc etc.

Cofounder 20

Cofounder Technical Review Vesting Ratchet 20

www.chubbybrain.com

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

After a thorough analysis of those 32 start-up post-mortems, we have determined the common reasons founders gave to compile this list of the top 20 ways to have your startup fail. Work life balance is not something that startup founders often get and so the risk of burning out is high. 13 – Disharmony with Investors/Co-founders.

Cofounder 89

Cofounder Startup Technical Cofounder CTO Hire 89

www.metamorphblog.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Home About Contact Home About Contact The Metamorphosis Becoming an Entrepreneur, by Matt Mireles Startup Lessons for the Proto-Founder I started SpeakerText in October 2008 during the financial apocalypse. You need a Co-Founder, not an Engineering Bitch. Date for a bit, then split the equity. No one funded us.

Founder 51

Founder Startup Cofounder Vesting 51

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 24, 2021

Startups Should Work To Make Their Employees Wealthy Not Just Their Founders And Investors. That low price was part of what enabled me to purchase my vested options when I left, a conundrum that exiting employees often face. And why we work with the founders we back to make sure there’s enough equity set aside to make great hires.

Silicon Valley 83

Silicon Valley Equity Vesting Cofounder 83

www.chubbybrain.com

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

Post-Mortem Title : My eHarmony for Hiring Failure. 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. So, the best way of dealing with this issue is to take a long, long vesting period for all major sweat equity founders.

Software Review 79

Software Review Startup Technical Review Vesting 79

venturehacks.com

MARCH 21, 2008

Advisor compensation Whether you’re hiring a normal advisor or super advisor: Advisory shares are usually issued as common stock options. The options typically vest monthly over 1-2 years with 100% single-trigger acceleration and no cliff. Finally, there is a beauty to paying in equity rather than an equivalent amount of cash.

Advisory Board 44

Advisory Board Cap Table Vesting Equity 44

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 9, 2020

I've known Brian Chesky, Co-Founder, CEO and Head of Community at Airbnb for a long time. I think every founder, every CEO, every leader, could learn something, could take heart from Brian's example and I hope they will. Brian Chesky : I am Brian Chesky, co-founder, CEO, and head of community at Airbnb.

Silicon Valley 60

Silicon Valley Hosting Cofounder Employee 60

venturehacks.com

OCTOBER 21, 2010

Use a hiring plan to justify a small option pool, increase your share price, and increase your effective valuation. Third, if you sell the company before the Series B, all un-issued and un-vested options will be cancelled. Solution: Use a hiring plan to size the option pool. Next, make a hiring plan for the next 12 months.

Option Pool 68

Option Pool Pre-Money Valuation Dilution Warrant 68

Spencer Fry

SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

Much has been written about the disadvantages of being a solo founder. Paul Graham was certainly one of the first to write about it publicly in 2006 when he published his article, Startup Mistakes , with “Single Founder” as the first in a long list of mistakes. Bad co-founder fit. I wanted to start it on my own.

Cofounder 28

Cofounder Founder Vesting Equity 28

www.readwriteweb.com

FEBRUARY 23, 2010

3: Hire Your Boss : Make sure you hire people that you would want to work for, who challenge you and you can learn from. Stay involved in the hiring process as long as you possibly can. 5: Raising Money : The higher your evaluation is, the more equity you have to work with. Beg, borrow and steal. Very motivating!

Entrepreneur 69

Entrepreneur Venture Capital San Francisco New Zealand 69