VC Adventure

AUGUST 16, 2020

Despite how much time companies talk about the importance of their employees and, in many cases, how every employee is also an “owner” of their business through their option program, most companies are pretty ad hoc (or down right sloppy) about how they plan for and execute their option program.

Programming 149

Programming Vesting Equity Software Review 149

SoCal CTO

MAY 10, 2011

A long-time friend and colleague, Steve Wexler, who is great at visualization took my Startup CTO Salary and Equity Data and produced a really need interactive visualization via Tableau. Of course, as you would suspect, equity percentages dilute based on years in business. The larger the circle, the larger the number of responses.

Salary 198

Salary Equity San Francisco Dilution 198

SoCal CTO

MAY 10, 2011

A long-time friend and colleague, Steve Wexler, who is great at visualization took my Startup CTO Salary and Equity Data and produced a really need interactive visualization via Tableau. Of course, as you would suspect, equity percentages dilute based on years in business. The larger the circle, the larger the number of responses.

Salary 175

Salary Equity San Francisco Dilution 175

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 7, 2023

What if employee candidates ask for the moon? Here’s an example we’ve heard before: Cohen sets up an example where a senior position job candidate is stuck on a salary twice as high as the CEO is willing to pay, leading to a standoff between the two. Then again, there are those seductive unicorn opportunities.

Stock Options 62

Stock Options Stock Salary Dilution 62

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 12, 2017

Cohen sets up an example where a senior position job candidate is stuck on a salary twice as high as the CEO is willing to pay, leading to a standoff between the two. In a previous insight, we explored the common percentage of a company’s fully diluted stock that is often granted in the form of options for new employees. (See

Employee 97

Employee Stock Options Dilution Salary 97

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

The lack of team cohesion and respect for individuals has probably been one of the biggest weaknesses of Zynga – at least from nearly EVERY employee I’ve ever talked to who worked there. The company hadn’t performed well financially and need to make changes. We sat down the three of us.

Founder 340

Founder Sacramento Cofounder Technical Review 340

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

Many employees forget that there isn’t even a market for startup stock, until after the company has gone public, which hasn’t happened positively to many companies in the last few years. Offers near the high end of a range will likely come with a lower cash salary, maybe even 50% of the going rate.

Equity 237

Equity Stock Options Advisory Board Stock 237

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Sam also had a vision as early as 2012 about how MakeSpace would be a large employer of middle-income jobs: The company would hire employees rather than just have contractors and he would lead the effort to ensure they had opportunities for growth and benefits for their families. were more distributed.

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

www.instigatorblog.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Changing Equity Structures for Early Startup Employees Tweet Recently someone asked me for advice on how much equity they should give to their early employees. His company had just closed an early round of funding and he wanted to cement the employee relationships. Those first employees will take 0.5-1%

Equity 41

Equity Employee Startup Vesting 41

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

Benefits: Non-dilutive, flexible credit offerings that fit SMB or enterprise SaaS. The mode purpose for funding is (in order of frequency) Sales, Marketing, Market Expansion, Product Development, and Hiring Employees. Founder Earnings = Net Income + any amount of founders’ salaries over a certain threshold. over next 12 months.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

keen.io

FEBRUARY 5, 2013

And if the CEO says, “Salaries will be adjusted to market value soon,” that’s probably a best-case scenario. From there, I began googling things like “first employee startup equity” and “startup offer negotiation.” These were the best resources I found: Equity for Early Employees in Early Stage Startups. So I knew a little bit.

Salary 50

Salary Equity Startup San Francisco 50

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

If you hire 6 senior sales reps in January at $120,000 / year salary then you’ve taken on an extra $60,000 per month in costs yet these sales people might not close new business 6 months. They got a bigger office space so their employees would feel comfortable and they could improve employee retention.

Stock Options 227

Stock Options Startup Dilution Venture Capital 227

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2017

Many employees forget that there isn’t even a market for startup stock, until after the company has gone public, which hasn’t happened positively to many companies in the last few years. Offers near the high end of a range will likely come with a lower cash salary, maybe even 50% of the going rate.

Stock 140

Stock Stock Options Advisory Board Startup 140

View from Seed

DECEMBER 4, 2014

It’s also worth keeping in mind that regardless of how the founders’ common stock is divided, there will be future issuance of stock that will dilute the founders over the lifecycle of the company. Next, those that were forgoing some or all salary prior to Series A got an additional chunk for that.

Equity 315

Equity Founder Sweat Equity Cofounder 315

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2013

Many employees forget that there isn’t even a market for stock, until after the company has gone public, which hasn’t happened positively to many companies in the last few years. Offers near the high end of a range will come with a lower cash salary, maybe even 50% of the going rate.

Stock Options 224

Stock Options Stock Advisory Board Startup 224

Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2019

VC’s have just changed the ~50-year old social contract with startup employees. For most startup employee’s startup stock options are now a bad deal. As Venture Capital emerged as an industry in the mid 1970’s, investors in venture-funded startups began to give stock options to all their employees. Here’s why.

Stock Options 334

Stock Options Stock Vesting Common Stock 334

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 18, 2015

Bloomberg’s article about lower-than-expected financial gains from startup IPOs for midlevel employees stuck in craw this week because there’s a handful of complex issues at play here. 25% of a company and you’re diluted 50-75% before IPO. We need to move to more transparency for employees. Assume you get.25%

Equity 48

Equity Employee IPO Vesting 48

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2011

Many employees forget that there isn’t even a market for stock, until after the company has gone public, which hasn’t happened to many companies in the last few years. Offers near the high end of a range will come with a lower cash salary, maybe even 50% of the going rate. Your compensation is the total package, stock plus salary.

Equity 234

Equity Advisory Board Stock Options Stock 234

www.payne.org

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Startup Equity For Employees. 3 Dilution. 7 Salary vs Equity. NOTE: If youre an attorney or tax accountant with experience helping startup employees with stock and option issues, drop me a note. Those new shares are created out of thin air by the company, and will dilute all of the current stockholders. 4 Vesting.

Equity 56

Equity Employee Vesting Preferred Stock 56

Agile VC

DECEMBER 4, 2014

It’s also worth keeping in mind that regardless of how the founders’ common stock is divided, there will be future issuance of stock that will dilute the founders over the lifecycle of the company. Next, those that were forgoing some or all salary prior to Series A got an additional chunk for that.

Cofounder 255

Cofounder Equity Founder Sweat Equity 255

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

Many employees forget that there isn’t even a market for stock, until after the company has gone public, which hasn’t happened positively to many companies in the last few years. Offers near the high end of a range will come with a lower cash salary, maybe even 50% of the going rate.

Stock Options 230

Stock Options Stock Advisory Board Startup 230

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

You scraped together enough for an angel round but not enough to pay yourself a real salary. An employee walks up to me and says, “Mark, I’m thinking about buying a house. Most employees want cruising altitude, most founders live in take off mode. Dilution / valuation. Runway of cash. ” Yes.

Startup 417

Startup Dilution San Diego Stock Options 417

Up and Running

AUGUST 7, 2013

Over several decades of building businesses, working with employees and in some cases partners, I’ve learned a few things about what people want when they do something well. Don’t take a note for the next salary review. Every day you wait dilutes the impact. . Do not wait. Do it right now.

Salary 120

Salary Dilution Leadership Employee 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 29, 2015

Many employees forget that there isn’t even a market for startup stock, until after the company has gone public, which hasn’t happened positively to many companies in the last few years. Offers near the high end of a range will likely come with a lower cash salary, maybe even 50% of the going rate.

Stock Options 120

Stock Options Stock Advisory Board Startup 120

Andrew Payne

SEPTEMBER 9, 2017

In practice, most equity grants within a company are driven by broad calibrations with existing employees. Then, there’s some case-by-case tweaking for competitive situations, salary trade-offs, the company’s need for that particular skill, or other circumstances, but this is a typical starting spot.

Equity 71

Equity Founder Vesting Dilution 71

www.mattbartus.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

We will grant him/her X% fully diluted shares up front, and every time he/she makes an introduction, he/she will vest in 100 shares.” People tend to underestimate how much record keeping is involved with managing employees and consultants, and this just adds an unacceptable extra burden. link] Casey Allen. Matt: Fantastic posts.

Equity 40

Equity Vesting Silicon Valley Intellectual Property 40

Agile VC

DECEMBER 4, 2014

It’s also worth keeping in mind that regardless of how the founders’ common stock is divided, there will be future issuance of stock that will dilute the founders over the lifecycle of the company. Next, those that were forgoing some or all salary prior to Series A got an additional chunk for that.

Cofounder 173

Cofounder Equity Founder Sweat Equity 173

www.startupnorth.ca

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Home Events Contact Jobs StartupIndex Founders versus early employees by David Crow on September 10th, 2009 in Resources Not everyone can be a founder. But for every founder, there is an early employee that takes near equal risks in joining an early-stage company. David Beisel We need to celebrate the employees at startups.

Employee 41

Employee Founder Salary Equity 41

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2011

Conventional wisdom says that you gain far more in working as a team than you lose by diluted by half before you start. They don’t want the risk of the first 3-6 months with no salary and having to walk around with a tin-cup for funding. Most senior employees who join are given 2% if they join early. That’s OK.

Cofounder 393

Cofounder Founder Vesting Founder Vesting 393

Berkonomics

MAY 26, 2010

One of his lessons remains clearly on my mind and is a variant of the old “You name the price and I’ll name the terms” challenge that works so well in negotiation. . Cohen sets up an example where a senior position job candidate is stuck on a salary twice as high as the CEO is willing to pay, leading to a standoff between the two.

Employee 54

Employee Liquidity Event Stock Options Salary 54

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 15, 2016

Though I should point out was still doing client work for OneMatchFire until mid-2005 until the business could pay full salaries. Social benefit companies also have access to impact investors which can provide 6 & 7 figure zero-dilution grants, which are an early stage secret weapon.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Startup Cofounder SMS 48

Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 28, 2011

So optimizing a startup offer involves not just one key figure – salary – but also the option package. Nearly all startup employees receive a number of options figure in their offer. It is essential that you ask the “number of fully-diluted shares outstanding.” So the number of shares you receive (e.g.

Startup 121

Startup Equity Vesting Salary 121

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2010

Many employees forget that there isn’t even a market for stock, until after the company has gone public, which hasn’t happened to many companies in the last few years. Offers near the high end of a range will come with a lower cash salary, maybe even 50% of the going rate. Your compensation is the total package, stock plus salary.

Stock 144

Stock Stock Options Advisory Board Startup 144

Berkonomics

APRIL 4, 2024

The number of employees grows. And then company grows… Once the company hits high growth or larger size, it is logical to follow the standard practice in the creation of two standing committees composed of outside board members (not employees or executives) – the compensation committee and the audit committee.

Covenant 48

Covenant Software Review Stock Options Vesting 48

The Next Web

OCTOBER 7, 2013

From the perspective of my outside friends, why are employees that so clearly impact the growth trajectory of a company look like they’re getting screwed? Startup employees are granted common shares out of something called an option pool. These common shares are granted to founders from the beginning, not employees.

Engineer 129

Engineer Dilution Option Pool Vesting 129

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 25, 2018

It was then profitable, but of course we weren’t paying ourselves salaries (unlike my consulting gig). We service 350 retail clients today with 100 employees, 40 partners, and a solution that is rated #1 in our industry by Forrester Research and Jupiter Research. Still in business today and run by my co-founder.

Bootstrapping 48

Bootstrapping Austin Equity Cofounder 48

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 26, 2010

I’ve written a post about the need to “Always be closing&# whether it is fundraising, employee/partner recruitment and new customer sales. Don’t raise just to get a salary or because you need to pay for servers. You can ask them to come along with you to the first meetings till you get the hang of it. When to raise?

Elevator Pitch 103

Elevator Pitch Incubator Technical Review Startup 103