Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

Many risks can be managed or calculated to improve growth or provide a competitive edge, while others, like skipping quality checks to save money, are recipes for failure. The challenge is to avoid the bad risks, while actively seeking and managing the smart risks. Risk is more manageable with subscriptions and even freemium pricing.

Forecast 120

Forecast Startup Stock Options Technical Review 120

Up and Running

MARCH 7, 2018

I spent years as a manager at a startup company. Aside from the time-consuming tasks of screening potential employees, interviewing, and re-hiring , losing and replacing employees is expensive. On average, it costs nearly three times an employee’s salary to replace them. Hire the right people. Here is how to do it.

Employee 91

Employee Startup Salary Hiring 91

Up and Running

DECEMBER 1, 2015

If however you are giving a “normal employee” an incentive stock option plan (more on that later), that’s entirely different. Make sure you understand all of your options before making any decisions. When business owners decide to go down the route of equity compensation, there are two primary options to choose between.

Equity 60

Equity Employee Stock Options Vesting 60

www.thedailymuse.com

SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

We’re Hiring. What Start-ups Should Know About Hiring a Lawyer. Hiring and working with a lawyer is often confusing and daunting, especially if you’ve never done it before. What should new entrepreneurs look for when hiring a lawyer? Hiring employees. What’s the typical hourly cost? Job Search.

Hiring 56

Hiring LLC Intellectual Property Private Equity 56

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

It was a stock option incentive related “expense” but I bet you didn’t know that because in an era where we only read the headlines — they must be a train wreck losing billions. If you don’t have a strong balance sheet and can’t hire more people that’s fine — but understand this may lead to slower growth. Two-f **g-billion!

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Stock Options Startup Dilution Venture Capital 227

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

Forget to get around to setting up that Employee Stock Option Plan and want to be able to give the early guys their options at a low strike price? I know he’s smart but you wouldn’t hire a Javascript developer to do your database design – would you? Shame about that pesky FAS 157 ruling.

Southern California 318

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

It’s such a tricky balance between being cost-focused & scrappy versus being impractical with how you spend your time. For a well-funded seed company I have controversially recommended hiring a great office manager that doubles as an administrative assistant. But alas I must scale with businesses and make money.

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Operations Metrics Early Stage Non-Compete 150

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

Be honest with yourself VCs are now going to be looking closer at margins, cost structures and true sales, and product market fit. If the best client success person is in Oklahoma instead of LA, we’re going to hire her, (in fact, we did). Hire versatile players and lean into your team The SVB collapse reminded us that staffing matters.

Early Stage 111

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 111

www.joelonsoftware.com

MARCH 24, 2010

Fog Creek explicitly recognizes that many good software engineers have no desire whatsoever to do "management" or to take on a formal personnel management role. One of the purposes of the Fog Creek Professional Ladder is to create a career path with promotions for engineers who simply do not want to do management stuff at all.

Software Review 48

Software Review Stock Options Salary Technical Review 48

Gust

APRIL 9, 2014

Over time, other people receive pieces of equity in exchange for work (employee stock options), money (seed, angel and venture investors), services (attorneys, directors, etc.). The Founder of a company starts by owning all the shares representing ownership of the company.

Dilution 150

Dilution Equity Vesting Stock Options 150

Reid Hoffman

DECEMBER 10, 2020

However, this course of action would have cost the company something even more important–the trust of its guests and hosts. To honor the Alliance it had made with those former employees, Airbnb waived the usual vesting cliff so that they could exercise their stock options, and provided generous severance packages.

Hosting 69

Hosting Hockey Stick IPO Silicon Valley 69

Up and Running

OCTOBER 13, 2022

When used correctly, an ESOP is a great way to build a culture of trust and respect between employees and company management. Before hiring an advisor, be sure to look into their years of service, legal fees, and track record in successfully establishing growth-oriented ESOPs. Benefits of having an ESOP in your business.

Vesting 88

Vesting Stock Valuation Stock Options 88

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Leadership & Managing | Tuesdays. LEADERSHIP & MANAGING. Managing Creativity. 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 Technology | Thursdays. The Goods: Your Business Toolbox | Thursdays.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

The Next Web

MARCH 2, 2014

For many business owners and management teams, “now” can easily seem like the right time to secure funding, and why not? Of course, it would be ideal to retain the autonomy as long as possible to establish you and your management teams’ business vision, but some businesses absolutely require outside capital in order to scale.

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Liquidity Event Equity Finance Stock Options 139

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2010

My original post was directed at hiring managers. It said that I didn’t believe it was a good idea to hire job hoppers. There is a high probability that the person you’re hiring will leave you within 18 months. I learned how to better run a product management process. It’s a subjective topic.

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Venture Capital Hiring Software Review Stock Options 285

ithacaVC

JUNE 20, 2011

Cost is the overriding issue for startups when it comes to properly engaging a lawyer. My general retort on this point is this: expect to incur real lawyer costs and get over it. Lawyer time required: 5 to 10 hours dependent on how fast you are hiring. Lawyer time required: 3 to 6 hours.

Stock Options 58

Stock Options Vesting Subscription Agreement Founder Vesting 58

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

When they rep you, the marginal cost of them trying to get you a slightly better deal is high for them relative to settling and moving on. On balance I usually prefer to recruit people from my network both in terms of saving costs as well as hiring people I know & trust. They hold out. They wait for a better offer.

Term Sheet 319

Term Sheet PR Liquidation Preference Stock Options 319

Transformify

SEPTEMBER 5, 2023

Consider cloud-based options for anytime access. Outsource payroll Hiring an external payroll provider can reduce the administrative burden, especially for complex global payroll needs. It can also generate your employees' pay stubs, direct deposits, and tax forms. What are some common payroll errors to watch out for?

Small Business 52

Small Business Software Review Stock Options Software 52

infochachkie.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Beware The Consultant John Greathouse – Posted in: Cash Flow Management , Launching Venture , Strategic Planning. For instance, many a BDC CEO has initiated a consultant to study cost cutting issues before announcing a significant layoff. Thanks for visiting! Once you obtain funding, it will be worse than hitting the Lottery.

Equity 40

Equity Silicon Valley Cofounder Technical Review 40

Berkonomics

AUGUST 27, 2015

Many thought that they were starting companies for their children and grandchildren to inherit and manage. They financed their companies, to the extent possible, in a manner minimizing the cost of capital, planning for organic growth in the number of customers served and in associated revenues.

Intellectual Property 48

Intellectual Property Balance Sheet Stock Options Valuation 48

Berkonomics

JULY 10, 2010

The rule of thumb for an advisory board member is to expect a full day each year on site, typically in a strategic planning meeting with numerous members of the staff, and a number of phone calls from senior members of management during the year.

Advisory Board 63

Advisory Board Stock Options Stock Common Stock 63

ithacaVC

JUNE 12, 2011

Examples: (i) hiring, (ii) firing, (iii) workplace harassment, (iv) raising investment capital, (v) borrowing money from a bank, (vi) entering into an agreement with another company, and (vii) creating a stock option plan. We love $1000/hour phone calls; really some have cost that much because there were 2 lawyers on the phone.

Stock Options 45

Stock Options Boston Stock Portfolio 45

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 11, 2014

And when you look at the tools that we use, I mean we’ve made so many technological advances, but really to manage a meeting there’s not a practical tool available. We use email; we use Word; we use task manager; we use a file sharing tool. They are so happy that they finally have a tool to manage their business.

Technical Cofounder 220

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Review Management 220

www.payne.org

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

2 Stock Classes: Common and Preferred. 5 Stock vs Options. 6 Founders / Restricted Stock. The re-heating of the venture funded tech market has pushed a heat up of the hiring market, and Im getting more calls from friends asking for help understanding startup stock (equity) offers. 3 Dilution. 4 Vesting.

Equity 56

Equity Employee Vesting Preferred Stock 56

Ben's Blog

APRIL 28, 2010

joined as a General Manager of the Computing Tabulating Recording Company, but renamed the company International Business Machines and turned it into the IBM we recognize today. Salmon points out that “not a single one of the 12 [candidates] is a CEO who was hired to run a company by its board of directors.”. Thomas Watson, Sr.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 78

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 23, 2019

She is a former Career Development Program Manager at Google, and she is also the author of What To Do When You Need To Move Out of Your Parents’ Basement … No, that’s not it, we’ll get back to that one. John Jantsch: So before we get into your latest book, what does a Career Development Program Manager do at Google?

Programming 63

Programming Finance Turkey Stock Options 63

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

And if trouble withinvestors is one of the biggest threats to a startup, managing themis one of the most important skills founders need to learn. Ifyour competitors offer employees stock options that might make themrich, while you make it clear you plan to stay private, yourcompetitors will get the best people.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

That is just currently a full personal money sucking process, as you're taxed on income and have no business breaks yet, besides supplies, the majority of costs to start up a business have no tax advantages to creating a start up. Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science?

DC 90

DC Washington San Francisco SBIR 90

venturehacks.com

OCTOBER 21, 2010

SUPPORTED BY Products Archives @venturehacks Books AngelList About RSS The Option Pool Shuffle by Nivi on April 10th, 2007 “Follow the money card!&# – The Inside Man, Three-Card Shuffle Summary: Don’t let your investors determine the size of the option pool for you. The option pool lowers your effective valuation.

Option Pool 68

Option Pool Pre-Money Valuation Dilution Warrant 68

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Inevitably, the excuses begin: I need to hire people to build the product. In later posts I’m going to get into more detail on specific topics like hiring, raising money, what types of ideas have the potential to get big, finding your founders, and the like. The project was so low cost they did not even want to bother with it.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 84

Ben's Blog

MARCH 17, 2011

So why do all organizations eventually create job titles and what is the proper way to manage them? Because titles will be used to calculate relative value, they must be managed carefully. I wouldn’t let him manage a lemonade stand.”. It’s rather nice. Why do titles matter? One challenge is the Peter Principle.

Employee 78

Employee Stock Options Engineer Management 78

Up and Running

JUNE 19, 2015

Sabrina: In terms of that, when you think about growing and getting more people on board and all the people management that goes a long with it, how have you dealt with continuing to make sure that the culture is what you want it to be and that you have time to think about it? I also like Trello which is a project management software.

Cloud 60

Cloud Small Business Silicon Valley Media 60

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? If your question is available, choose it from the list.

Equity 40

Equity Employee Founder Cofounder 40

Startup Company Lawyer

MAY 1, 2009

CompStudy publishes an annual report of equity and cash compensation that provides compensation data on top management positions and Boards of Directors at private companies in technology and life sciences. Participants who complete the survey will receive the full results at no cost. . Tags: Stock options.

Stock Options 31

Stock Options CTO Hire Equity 31

Seeing Both Sides

JANUARY 13, 2015

My boss and mentor from Open Market, Gary Eichhorn , made the entire management team read it in the 1990s to hammer home its important lessons as we stumbled through the chasm on our way to scaling from zero to nearly $100 million in revenue in a few years. The first version of the go to market team is hired (i.e., It is a classic.

Mezzanine 20

Mezzanine IPO Finance Business Model 20