Austin Startup

MAY 8, 2018

Background reading: Founder Compensation: Cash, Equity, Liquidity Fatal Errors in Early Startup Hiring Early Hires: Options or Stock Given how deeply involved we are with early-stage startups hiring their first key employees, I figured it would be helpful to outline a few key principles to help entrepreneurs navigate the topic.

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Employee Seed Stage Startup Equity 48

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 26, 2009

They had their own private forum, and a company founder (aka me) personally ran the group in its early days. Every time you listen to customers, you fear diluting your vision. They had their own private forum, and a company founder (aka me) personally ran the group in its early days. Here’s what it looks like.

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Advisory Board Customer San Francisco Lean 151

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 15, 2009

Of all the tactics I have advocated as part of the lean startup , none has provoked as many extreme reactions as continuous deployment , a process that allows companies to release software in minutes instead of days, weeks, or months. The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0. Expo SF (May. for Harvard Business Revie.

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Continuous Deployment Software Review San Francisco Lean 167

JANUARY 9, 2014

No clear vision or purpose This should be the starting point for any startup founder, but it’s often overlooked. By trying to appeal to everyone and adding features left, right and centre, you will actually dilute your message and could end up with a complex, bloated product. Life’s too short to build something nobody wants.”

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Early Stage Startup Cofounder Design 102

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 24, 2009

And as everyone’s attention starts to focus on those same indicators, their value is being diluted. Just like in the world of startups, we can start to use micro-scale pilot programs, executed in lean fashion, to gather real facts for making ROI decisions about new project investment. 12comments: Dougvs said.

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San Francisco Lean Technical Review Distribution 113

The Startup Toolkit

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Roughly 33% dilution for full round ($2mm pre-money). 40% dilution for full round (roughly $2mm pre-money). What’s the dilution? The second is a tranched deal, which is always a bad compromise for founders. 500k now, plus commitment to help close $500k more from other angels. 1.25mm total. Conveniently local.

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Term Sheet Dilution Participating Preferred B2C 31

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

You have to decide where to lean in on follow-on rounds. Co-founder discontent. Reference checking is to confirm or disprove a strong, positive intuition you already have about founders that could lead to an investment or a pass. What would this founder do if he got an offer to be acquihired quickly by Facebook?

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Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Early Stage 374

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 24, 2016

Here is my list, based on my own experience as a startup advisor, talking to other angel investors, and derived from the lean startup principles of venture advisor and entrepreneur Eric Ries : Strip the solution down to a focus on a key feature. This confuses customers, and dilutes your marketing impact.

Angel Investor 143

Angel Investor Dilution Matching Business Model 143

keen.io

FEBRUARY 5, 2013

The founders had been dropping hints that they wanted me to join them. This book was written to help founders negotiate financing with investors, but it really helped me understand Keen’s financial situation, and I highly recommend it to anyone joining a startup. So I knew a little bit. I knew enough to know I wanted to join a startup.

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Salary Equity Startup San Francisco 50

Austin Startup

JANUARY 11, 2020

Capital Factory’s Saturday Startup Spotlight series, where we chat with an exciting new startup and get to know their story, returns this week with the co-founder and CEO of TaxTaker : Ari Palmer. It’s now the #1 non-dilutive source of capital for businesses to continue to grow and scale, but it’s highly overlooked.

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CPA Startup Non-Compete Cofounder 62

Austin Startup

OCTOBER 4, 2017

Dilution, overvaluation, free money, TNSTAAFL, and how to deal with VCs like a pro. First time founders are typically the most likely to object to dilution when fundraising. They do this to avoid dilution, which on the surface seems like a good idea, but can prove deadly to your start up when you get to the A round.

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Dilution Valuation Equity Balance Sheet 59

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JUNE 12, 2012

” Food on the Table — a now-famous lean juggernaut in Austin run by IMVU alum Manuel Rosso — talked to 120. If the founder sits down with what ought to be the perfect customer and chats for an hour and cannot convince more than one in twenty of the value of the project, it’s too difficult to sell.

Customer 252

Customer Customer Development Dilution Engineer 252

The Startup Toolkit

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Roughly 33% dilution for full round ($2mm pre-money). 40% dilution for full round (roughly $2mm pre-money). What’s the dilution? The second is a tranched deal, which is always a bad compromise for founders. 500k now, plus commitment to help close $500k more from other angels. 1.25mm total. Conveniently local.

Term Sheet 20

Term Sheet Dilution Participating Preferred B2C 20

www.mattbartus.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Perspectives on issues affecting founders, startups and investors from a veteran startup lawyer in Silicon Valley. 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.” Is it atypical for founders to vest more than 25% of their equity after one year?

Equity 40

Equity Vesting Silicon Valley Intellectual Property 40

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.

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Founder Vesting Agile Startup 44

Austin Startup

SEPTEMBER 10, 2017

TL;DR: Using a “tiered” valuation cap structure in a convertible note or SAFE can provide flexibility that bridges the gap between (i) what founders expect their company to be worth in the near future, and (ii) what investors are comfortable accepting now. No upside for founders. Did you get a “good” valuation? Sounds legit.

Valuation 48

Valuation Dilution Silicon Valley Seed Stage 48

View from Seed

JANUARY 28, 2016

As a founder, you and your team are building value every day, but there are certain step-function moments where the value creation significantly increases. This is the best time to fundraise because that’s when you are able to command a meaningfully higher valuation for your next round to minimize your own dilution.

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Cofounder Finance Founder Syndicate 120

The Next Web

OCTOBER 10, 2013

How many founders are too many? You are the founder, the visionary, the uber-entrepreneur. VCs don’t fund sole founders and, if you are alone, you’ve either got too much ego or you can’t convince someone to join you. Two” – You have to have three founders. Too dilutive.”. Shoulder – not to cry on, but to lean on.

Cofounder 143

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Kenya Dilution 143

Austin Startup

MARCH 16, 2017

When I sat down with Marc MacLeod, Stoplight’s founder for this piece, he explained: “The API economy is a superset or ‘meta industry’ of larger industries such as mobile apps and Internet of Things which function based on API protocols. Stoplight is lean, visionary and opportunistic and therefore I am proud to support the team.

API 59

API Mobile Artificial Inteligence Austin 59

Seeing Both Sides

JANUARY 4, 2012

At the onset of 2012, many start-up executives around the world are sticking their copy of Lean Start-Up on the shelf, leaning back, and bemoaning the fact that they have a new set of challenges ahead of them. Founder's Dilemma: Bring in a Professional CEO? Obviously, it's not that easy a decision.

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Lean Dilution Revenue Hiring 53

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 30, 2020

by Mateo Monsalve Molina , Founder and CEO of Loyalty Property Advisors. The ground rule is to always dilute risk by diversifying your portfolio. However, to make the best of it in 2021, make sure to always strategize and lean on trusted partners along the way. After all, it perfectly fits the current situation as well.

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Portfolio Colombia San Francisco Dilution 278

David Teten

OCTOBER 1, 2015

What are the terms of their relationship with the founder? I’ve also asked this question on Quora.There, I ask for advice on how to best structure this for all parties: The development shop, the founders (outside of the dev shop), and potential outside investors. What are the timelines? The discounts? The cliffs? The fine print?

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Software Developers Software Development Software Review Technical Cofounder 60

Rob Go

JANUARY 28, 2016

As a founder, you and your team are building value every day, but there are certain step-function moments where the value creation significantly increases. This is the best time to fundraise because that’s when you are able to command a meaningfully higher valuation for your next round to minimize your own dilution.

Cofounder 28

Cofounder Finance Founder Syndicate 28

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 20, 2020

Most young founders lack at least a few of those C’s, making debt financing only feasible under limited conditions (and with plenty of upfront legwork and planning). Innovators can lean on both traditional and unexpected methods to secure seed funding ethically and legally. Short on cash but determined to succeed as a founder?

Indiana 165

Indiana Startup Bootstrapping Finance 165

betashop.com

OCTOBER 8, 2012

When we pivoted from fabulis to Fab, we pivoted towards building a business around the unique tastemaker talents of one of our founders, Bradford Shellhammer. Have amazing co-founders who are better at what they do than you could ever be. Founders need to personally own something big themselves. It’s that important.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Technology Software Review Valuation 108

maplebutter.com

JANUARY 8, 2013

How to stay lean and iterate quickly while you’re building a two sided marketplace, especially when “network effect” and “critical mass” are the two main focuses? Whats is the best way to find a co-founder for your startup? Dan, how did you meet your co-founders at each of your startups?

Technical Review 44

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Software Review 44

Rob Go

MAY 20, 2014

In that case however, the founders might end up taking a lot of dilution. Second, when things are working, founders will usually lean into the opportunity with the capital they have, which will reduce runway but make their growth curve steeper. Therefore, who invests is much more important than valuation.

Valuation 76

Valuation Dilution Post-Money Valuation Syndicate 76

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2016

Investors sat with the founder & CEO, Jason Spievak, and asked him what he wanted to do about the future. Like the market, Invoca has learned the importance of pragmatic growth over “growth at all costs” because when markets shift companies that run lean always have more options than those that only have a growth agenda.

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Balance Sheet Burn Rate Valuation Forecast 150

Reid Hoffman

JUNE 8, 2021

While many travel industry leaders chose to “go dark,” as Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky put it , while they decided how to navigate next steps, Chesky took a different approach: He got candid. Today, we are thrilled to have Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky with us. And I also think about regulation. BC: Yeah, Reid.

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Silicon Valley Hosting Rhode Island Design 69

betashop.com

OCTOBER 8, 2012

Find one person, make them your sherpa, and lean on them. . Position your desk in a way in which you are staring at your co-founders and they are staring at you. A couple of dilution points here or there wont matter in the long run but working with the right people will. Don’t do this by committee. This is tricky.

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Post-Money Valuation Valuation Dilution Advisory Board 92

Reid Hoffman

JUNE 8, 2021

While many travel industry leaders chose to “go dark,” as Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky put it , while they decided how to navigate next steps, Chesky took a different approach: He got candid. Today, we are thrilled to have Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky with us. And I also think about regulation. BC: Yeah, Reid.

Silicon Valley 36

Silicon Valley Hosting Rhode Island Design 36

crowdSPRING Blog

DECEMBER 13, 2018

If your brand tries to be too many things at once, the message becomes scattered and the brand grows diluted. For example, Charles Revson, founder of Revlon, always used to say he sold hope, not makeup. And, ideally, that message should come from your business’s core values and strategies.

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Marketing Charlotte Naming Design 162

Up and Running

JULY 14, 2015

Read also: Q&A with Business Incubator Co-founder Joe Maruschak. Peter: Yeah, that’s a perfect question for a recent article we posted called Q&A with Business Incubator Co-founder Joe Maruschak. The second reason is actually still a part of team but it’s the single founder. Startup Incubators – (2:13).

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Incubator Email Startup Oregon 60

crowdSPRING Blog

JULY 13, 2017

Writing for a smaller niche allows you to focus on content that resonates strongly with that group since you’re not diluting your message trying to achieve broader appeal. While less competition is a compelling argument in and of itself, there’s an even better reason to write for niche audiences. Honor Your Brand Voice.

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Social Media Media Small Business Marketing 60

crowdSPRING Blog

MARCH 1, 2013

The 7 Myths of Lean and How Analytics Can Help – [link]. Startups, Throw Out Your Financial Models: The Argument For Lean Modeling | Forbes – [link]. More founders reject VC money | Crain’s New York Business – [link]. The Truth About Founder Burnout – [link]. ” [link]. – [link].

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Social Media Small Business Design Media 97

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 19, 2019

Andy and I will be having a fireside chat at this year’s Lean Startup Conference in October. It was 20 to 30, not 100, because of the dilution from the capital. So we made a pact among the founders that when any of us reached the point that we weren't willing to go 110%, you had to opt out. He’s currently the CEO of the company.

Silicon Valley 159

Silicon Valley Lean Venture Capital Pre-Money Valuation 159