Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 7, 2013

This check is for The Community Foundation and for the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado (EFCO) and results from a gift of 24,793 shares of common stock from Rally at the time of its first financing that represented approximately 1% of the equity of the company. I remember numerous conversations with Ryan about this.

Community 182

Community Colorado Common Stock Equity 182

Startup Company Lawyer

AUGUST 31, 2012

Quick answer: convertible equity (or a convertible security) is convertible debt without the repayment feature at maturity or interest. Over the past few years, convertible debt has emerged as a quick and inexpensive method for startup companies to raise money from angel investors and early stage venture funds. Background. The problem.

Convertible Security 73

Convertible Security Equity Security Preferred Stock 73

Austin Startup

JULY 6, 2018

Background Reading: Why startups need signals. The below outlines how I would approach the decision: Cash and Equity. Very simply, what are you giving and what are you getting in return in terms of cash and equity for joining the program? See: Startup Accelerator Anti-Dilution Provisions; The Fine Print. Anti-Dilution.

Dilution 48

Dilution Startup Technical Review Equity 48

Agile VC

DECEMBER 4, 2014

As a result, one of the trickier things co-founders tackle is determining the equity split amongst the founding group of individuals. Across both the startups I’ve personally been involved in (PayPal and LinkedIn) and the startups in which I’ve been an investor, I’ve seen a broad range of co-founder equity splits.

Cofounder 173

Cofounder Equity Founder Sweat Equity 173

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Advisor. ); STARTUP. Will Work for Equity. Why Arizona Bay started taking stock from its customers instead of cash. Dave Graham Business Venture Capital Private Equity GlobalLogic Inc. Theres a huge opportunity cost in not taking equity," he says. Entrepreneur news from reporter Eric Markowitz. Email address: Home.

Arizona 40

Arizona Equity Iowa Venture Capital 40

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2021

When an entrepreneur first incorporates a business, they may find themselves the proud owner of 10 million shares of common stock, commonly called founder’s shares. Startup owners need to assume a three to five year wait for a liquidity event, such as acquisition or going public, before they can cash out.

Vesting 298

Vesting Dilution Stock Founder Vesting 298

VC Adventure

AUGUST 15, 2018

Most boards did some level of work to determine the FMV of a company’s stock but generally options were priced between 10% and 15% of a company’s then preferred price (because common equity sits behind preferred equity there is typically a discount applied to the FMV of common stock to account for this “overhang”).

Valuation 48

Valuation Common Stock Cap Table Software Review 48

www.mattbartus.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Perspectives on issues affecting founders, startups and investors from a veteran startup lawyer in Silicon Valley. Equity for Consultants – Keep it Simple! posted Feb 3 in Equity , People issues. for every hour works, consultant accrues [hourly wage]in debt that will convert to equity in the next round).

Equity 40

Equity Vesting Silicon Valley Intellectual Property 40

Steve Blank

APRIL 26, 2022

At the turn of the century after the dotcom crash, startup valuations plummeted, burn rates were unsustainable, and startups were quickly running out of cash. Some even insisted that all prior preferred stock had to be converted to common stock. This article previously appeared in TechCrunch. Why do VCs Do This?

Cram Down 404

Cram Down Founder Venture Capital Recapitalization 404

The Startup Lawyer

DECEMBER 10, 2015

A startup founder’s desire to hold equity better than plain-vanilla common stock isn’t new. Several years ago, Series FF stock for founders was all the rage when it came to founder liquidity at subsequent financing rounds. We implemented Series FF for a handful of clients back then but we haven’t done so recently.

Common Stock 40

Common Stock Stock Founder Equity 40

Feld Thoughts

DECEMBER 28, 2011

Recently, Microsoft announced the Microsoft Kinect Accelerator , a program created to incubate startups building the next generation of innovative experiences for the Kinect. If accepted, each company will receive an equity investment of $20,000 in exchange for six percent of the company in common stock, which will be held by TechStars.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Common Stock Seattle Cofounder 134

Scott Edward Walker

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

Indeed, you must make sure that all of the shares of common stock issued by the corporation to the founders are subject to vesting restrictions – which means that ownership of the shares would vest over time (instead of all of the shares being owned outright on day one). Vesting Restrictions. and start negotiating with them.

Vesting 89

Vesting Software Review IP Intellectual Property 89

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

In addition to helping manage the board Chris also helps represent the interests of the angel investors / common stock holders. And you can often throw in a separate action like approving stock-option grants, getting approval for CAPEX spend, discussing fund raising timing – whatever. Startup Advice'

Advisory Board 365

Advisory Board CTO Hire Fractional CTO Los Angeles 365

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. For example: Don’t accept equity compensation (stock shares) without knowing the percentage of the company you’ll own. I knew enough to know I wanted to join a startup.

Salary 50

Salary Equity Startup San Francisco 50

Scott Edward Walker

OCTOBER 19, 2020

Over the past six months, my firm has been engaged by a number of startups with significant intellectual property (“IP”) problems. The purpose of this blog post is to briefly discuss the three most common IP mistakes that startups make. working on the startup) while employed. Introduction. code, designs, logo, etc.)

IP 52

IP Software Review Founder Technical Review 52

ithacaVC

APRIL 5, 2011

One rule of simple cap tables is to issue “normal” stock to founders (common stock only) and investors (typically preferred stock, but sometimes common stock to early friends and family). So, we needed a solution. I hope the investor agrees.

Common Stock 45

Common Stock Stock Cap Table Preferred Stock 45

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. As a potential advisor looking to get involved with the company; MORE EQUITY! This leaves plenty of room for a final 4th advisor for

Equity 98

Equity Vesting Cap Table Common Stock 98

The Next Web

JUNE 17, 2015

Giving up equity in your business, as an alternative to paying cash, often sounds like a great idea to cash-starved startups. But, giving up equity in your business is often a very big decision, and can come at a long-term price, both financially and operationally. For example, let’s stay your startup is worth $1,000,000.

Equity 60

Equity Valuation Preferred Stock Common Stock 60

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

Perhaps they're way off in their valuation (usually far too high), or paralyzed by fear at seeing the other terms, because they have no idea what's normal, and what's worth a fight to the death (their startup's). Investors, on the other hand, look at the money figure, and even the equity, as the easy part.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Demand Preferred Stock Liquidation Preference 120

Agile VC

APRIL 17, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Obviously most of these employees are working hard primarily for equity upside compensation, but Kayak’s personnel costs are roughly $200K/head so the company is highly productive on a per employee basis. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. How To Think About The Future. And Why 20%?

Pre-Money Valuation 113

Pre-Money Valuation Liquidation Preference Dividend Common Stock 113

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2015

When an entrepreneur first incorporates his or her business, he or she may find him or herself the proud owner of 10 million shares of common stock, commonly called founder’s shares. Startup owners need to assume a three to five year wait for a liquidity event, such as acquisition or going public, before they can cash out.

Stock 120

Stock Vesting Common Stock Founder Vesting 120

www.payne.org

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Startup Equity For Employees. 2 Stock Classes: Common and Preferred. 5 Stock vs Options. 6 Founders / Restricted Stock. 7 Salary vs Equity. Important disclaimer: Ive got experience negotiating stock compensation packages from both sides of the table. Stock Classes: Common and Preferred.

Equity 56

Equity Employee Vesting Preferred Stock 56

Austin Startup

JULY 22, 2021

On October 4th, five technology startup finalists will pitch to a panel of advisors and judges made up of successful investors, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders. Any software, hardware, or CPG startup in Texas with a female founder or co-founder can apply to participate. Startups, submit your application now! Who Can Apply?

San Antonio 107

San Antonio Dallas Houston Founder 107

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 28, 2022

With the rise of startups and growing businesses , it has become more critical for investors to have a thorough understanding of equity to be aware of all of the advantages they are receiving from the companies they have invested in. What is Company Equity? Types of equity. Common stock. Preferred shares.

Valuation 108

Valuation Equity Warrant Common Stock 108

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 29, 2018

I’ll never forget that great sense of excitement I felt when I incorporated my first business, and realized that I was now the proud owner of 10 million shares of common stock. Even though initial stock has no market value today, it is extremely valuable in dividing equity ownership between co-founders, investors, and early partners.

Stock 129

Stock Vesting Preferred Stock Cofounder 129

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

If you want to give them a 50% discount offer them $1 of common-stock warrants (no liquidation preference) for every $1 of stock they buy. If you want to give them a 33% discount you offer them half of a $1 common-stock warrant for every $1 share they purchase. “But lawyers will charge much more for equity.”

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet 417

Growthink Blog

MAY 10, 2012

When seeking equity investments, the source of capital is, for the most part, tied to the stage of capital being raised. You see, equity capital is raised in stages or rounds. Mezzanine Financing Most companies that raise equity capital and are eventually acquired or go public receive multiple rounds of financing first.

Equity 88

Equity Mezzanine Later Stage Venture Capital 88

Gust

JUNE 7, 2014

5) Senior Preferred Stock and warrants. 7) Junior Preferred Stock and warrants. 9) Common Stock (including any Preferred that converted to Common, any exercised options, and all Founders stock) and Common stock warrants. Invested Interests company early stage funding investors startup starup'

Warrant 157

Warrant Preferred Stock Early Stage Common Stock 157

Business Plan Blog

NOVEMBER 13, 2013

Most startup founders do not have enough capital to launch their companies and need to raise money at some point. Individual investors who provide financial funding to startups are called ‘Angel Investors.’ Among the most common methods of funding used by startups when raising seed capital is “Convertible Debt Financing.”

Finance 93

Finance Accredited Investor Angel Investor Seed Capital 93

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Startup Advice. As startup entrepreneurs we all want to work with them because having their name as reference clients makes it so much easier for marketing, PR, selling to other customers, fund raising and even recruiting. Make the warrants for common stock and not preferred stock.

Warrant 298

Warrant Dilution Startup Stock Options 298

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). under $500K).

Finance 70

Finance Software Review Term Sheet Liquidation Preference 70

Haystack

JULY 8, 2018

And with this, every year, a new cohort enters into the “tech startup” world, and there’s no official canon to read, no “one-stop shopping” site or user manual to get briefed on the things you absolutely need to know. You can read more about the types of stock granted in startups here.

Early Stage 95

Early Stage Dilution Private Equity Common Stock 95

The Startup Lawyer

MARCH 17, 2010

4) Type of Shares: Common Stock. (5) 5) Par Value of Common: $0.0001. (6) 7) Founders Equity Split: Depends on the Team, But Quickly and After the Awkward & Difficult Conversations. (8) 2) Fees Paid to Pitch my Startup: $0. (3) Tags: Startup Issues Incorporation raising capital startup.

Accredited Investor 112

Accredited Investor Delaware NDA Vesting 112

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

The law firm Goodwin Procter has launched a new resource for entrepreneurs that will help them navigate some of the legal and organizational challenges that startups face. Documents that can be created include a Certificate of Incorporation, Bylaws, Consent of Board of Directors, and Common Stock Certificates.

Founder 117

Founder Common Stock IP Startup 117

The Startup Lawyer

MARCH 17, 2010

4) Type of Shares: Common Stock. (5) 5) Par Value of Common: $0.0001. (6) 7) Founders Equity Split: Depends on the Team, But Quickly and After the Awkward & Difficult Conversations. (8) 2) Fees Paid to Pitch my Startup: $0. (3) Tags: Startup Issues Incorporation raising capital startup.

Accredited Investor 112

Accredited Investor Delaware NDA Vesting 112

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2010

Liquidation preference is the amount of money that an investor gets paid before the common stock (e.g. It also gets the new investor concerned that management (common stock holders) will not be incentivized because they realize that the investors will take most of the money unless there is a big upside scenario.

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Common Stock Dividend 289

Up and Running

AUGUST 17, 2015

As I read stories of college dropouts who had successfully sold tech companies, or entrepreneurs with innovative ideas who made it big on Shark Tank, it became clear that there was no set path to startup success. C Corp versus LLC, non-competes, liquidation preferences, preferred versus common stock, and so on).

Entrepreneur 60

Entrepreneur Cofounder Angel Investor eCommerce 60