Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2016

The next default of waiting until later is equally bad, since partners who bow out early will still expect an equal share of that first billion you make later. Even with an agreed initial equity split, it’s smart to have Founder’s stock actually issue or vest over a period of at least two years, on a month-by-month basis.

Equity 120

Equity Cofounder Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property 120

www.informationarbitrage.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

Home About Press IA Capital Partners Archives After 17 years in M&A, Derivatives and Trading, Im spending my time with young entrepreneurs in and around financial technology and digital media. Main February 23, 2010 Advice for CTO Founders: Dont Let Business Kill the Business Founding a technology company is an amazing thing.

CTO Hire 40

CTO Hire Founder Cap Table Vesting 40

The Next Web

OCTOBER 7, 2013

It is typical for employees to vest their options over four years with a one year cliff, which means a new hire must stay on the company for at least one year to see any shares. After a year, shares will vest in monthly or quarterly splits until the full grant is vested. percent to 3 percent range for engineer #1s.

Engineer 129

Engineer Dilution Option Pool Vesting 129

blog.aparttimecto.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

A Part-Time CTO Technology. Un-knowledgeable - Since it’s just you and your partners, you might not be making the best choices. They may make certain concessions or decisions that could hinder the flexibility of your application There is also a hybrid variant of #2 and #3 above that I’ll call a development partner.

CTO Hire 40

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Equity Vesting 40

The Next Web

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

George Deeb is the Managing Partner at Chicago-based Red Rocket Ventures , a startup consulting and financial advisory firm based in Chicago. So, a CEO or CTO, would get a much higher stake than an office manager or a graphic designer, as an example. You can follow George on Twitter at @georgedeeb and @RedRocketVC.

Cofounder 136

Cofounder Equity Founder Seed Stage 136

Scalable Startup

OCTOBER 9, 2014

Talking to CEO and CTO about role as co-founder/COO. You need to be positioned as an equal partner, regardless of equity or title. > You need to be positioned as an equal partner, regardless of equity or title. > Vesting? > Often this is a “story” or a hypothetical. > Do you have another job?

Cofounder 20

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Equity Vesting 20

David Teten

OCTOBER 1, 2015

Partnering with a source of capital, connections, and expertise for a large equity chunk is often worth it in those scenarios (e.g., When the value of the studio’s participation is effectively a commodity (like office space, engineering, capital, etc), the equation flips and should be to the advantage of the founders. Rock Health).

Software Developers 60

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Technical Cofounder 60

thinkspace.com

SEPTEMBER 7, 2012

How long should people vest – four years? That’s where a good partner agreement comes into play. Not only do you want to allocate ownership, but you want to re-allocate ownership if either partner fails to deliver. And the vesting doesn’t necessarily need to be time-based either. Five years?

Equity 62

Equity Employee Founder CTO Hire 62

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

We had a rough time early on," says Parker, president and chief technology officer of Roving Software Inc. , Durkin , managing partner with the Boston -based law firm Lucash, Gesmer & Updegrove LLP. Chip Morse , cofounder and partner with Morse, Barnes-Brown & Pendleton P.C., based in Waltham, Mass. Two trucks.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

www.metamorphblog.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Outcome: last night a Biz Dev guy from Disney/ABC sent me an email asking about partnering with some of their online properties. The dude turned out to be a senior partner at a major international corporate law firm, and 6 weeks later he offered to take me on as a pro bono client. Vest, young man. Learned a lot. Learned a lot.

Founder 51

Founder Startup Cofounder Vesting 51

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 4, 2009

Stock vests for 4 years. So a friend recently called to ask for advice on becoming the CTO of a startup. You get 1%, you sell for $150 million and it’s in 3 years (e.g. you won the lottery). That’s an after-tax gain of $287,500 / year for 2 years. Wait a second. You didn’t get acceleration on a change of control?

Stock Options 418

Stock Options Stock Liquidation Preference Option Pool 418

www.startuplessonslearned.com

MAY 4, 2012

For instance, when Robin Chase and her partner, Antje, founded the car-sharing startup Zipcar, they agreed with a quick handshake to split the equity 50–50. Robin wondered when her partner would be able to become more involved, but, in the end, Antje never joined full-time. How should founders deal with such developments?

Equity 72

Equity Founder Technical Cofounder Cofounder 72

www.chubbybrain.com

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

The negativity either impacted investment funding (venture capital fell off a cliff in 2009) or the customers they were targeted as was the case for Untitled Partners who were building a platform for fractional art ownership. We were obviously wrong about Untitled Partners’ ability to grow through the subsequent downturn. #19

Cofounder 89

Cofounder Startup Technical Cofounder CTO Hire 89

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

There’s you and your killer CTO co-founder. I know it’s not single-handed as he has both fantastic partners at Foundry Group and many other community leaders. It’s clear that America has a vested interest in promoting entrepreneurship in many regions in the country to stimulate innovation & job creation.

Seattle 317

Seattle Silicon Valley Technical Review Los Angeles 317

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 10, 2013

He believed we had a weakness with his CTO. It is my job to be a sparring partner for teams not the decision maker. The CTO had at-will employment with no notice period. He had vested 18 months or so. About a year ago I was working with a team whose performance had not gone as expected. It might affect fund raising.

Vesting 344

Vesting Cofounder Salary Sales 344

blog.expensify.com

APRIL 24, 2012

” I’m quite sure with this article you alienated not only few potential customers or partners but also some existing ones. I once ran a startup company partnered with a US company. I was the founding CTO for that company and yes it was end to end Microsoft. March 25, 2011 at 7:16 pm. March 26, 2011 at 12:17 am.

Java 107

Java PHP Software Review Coder 107