This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 28, 2021

I would propose that early stage startups start thinking about doing something radically different—think about trying to become the absolute best place to work if you have a family as a means of getting an advantage in the hiring market. Consider extended family leave—six months paid at minimum for all parents of all genders.

Hiring 192

Hiring Early Stage Marketing Term Sheet 192

Duct Tape Marketing

OCTOBER 11, 2023

Shattering The Mold: Unleashing the Creator Economy in B2B Marketing written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing The Duct Tape Marketing Podcast with Christie Horsman In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast , I interviewed Christie Horsman, who brings a decade of expertise in both B2B and B2C marketing within the SaaS arena.

B2B 78

B2B Marketing B2C Community 78

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

For your first key hires, three, five, maybe as much as ten, you will probably not be able to use any kind of formula. For example, suppose you're just two founders and you want to hire an additional hacker who's so good you feel he'll increase the average outcome of the whole company by 20%. n = (1.2 - 1)/1.2 =.167. and we have 11.1%

Early Stage 391

Early Stage Equity CTO Hire Sweat Equity 391

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

My rationale is simple: everything goes wrong and only great teams can respond to competitors, markets, funding environments, staff departures, PR disasters and the like. it’s the most expensive dilution you’ll ever face. Don’t hire a homogenous team. Final startup grind from msuster. Know the difference.

Cofounder 388

Cofounder Early Stage Startup Silicon Valley 388

Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2019

Investors bet that by offering prospective hires a stake in the company’s future growth- with a visible time horizon of a payoff – employees would act more like owners and work harder– and that would align employee interests with the investor interests. That made sense.

Stock Options 334

Stock Options Stock Vesting Common Stock 334

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

As a startup in this phase you often raise capital, get press, hire staff and everything feels possible. What sized team can I afford in order to sell, market & provide service to these customers? But expanding beyond our core customers was going to take more effort than simply launching in new markets.

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 13, 2018

I had joined MIPS Computers, my second semiconductor company , as the VP of marketing and also took on the role of the acting VP of Sales. I worked with engineering to try to find product/market fit ( big endian or little endian ?) I worked with engineering to try to find product/market fit ( big endian or little endian ?)

Part-Time VPE 334

Part-Time VPE Employee Cofounder Hiring 334

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2017

That’s a tall order, especially when your business culture has to fit into the myriad of international and local cultures that are part of every market these days. This is where the culture of the startup has to adapt to the cultures of the markets served. In the classic book, “ Fish Can’t See Water ,” Kai Hammerich and Richard D.

Dilution 134

Dilution Merger Flash Global 134

The Next Web

OCTOBER 7, 2013

They were referring to non-founder engineers, most commonly the first hire for technology businesses. Every time a startup raises capital, all common shareholders are diluted. All of the estimates displayed above are figures prior to any dilution. So, if o = initial ownership and y = total dilution, x = o * (1 – y).

Engineer 129

Engineer Dilution Option Pool Vesting 129

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 18, 2024

While they might be generally smart, they’re unsophisticated investors who don’t know what the market is for where you are. They try to sign simple, market-standard deals, keeping the bells and whistles to a minimum while focusing on just a few critical deal points that are most likely to move the needle on their returns.

.Net 89

.Net Cap Table Startup Technical Review 89

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2013

That’s a tall order, especially when your business culture has to fit into the myriad of international and local cultures that are part of every market these days. This is where the culture of the startup has to adapt to the cultures of the markets served. In a new book, “ Fish Can’t See Water ,” Kai Hammerich and Richard D.

Dilution 187

Dilution Merger Flash Global 187

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 19, 2015

Web design is a major part of any website or online marketing strategy; as is the content and structure of your site. There are scores of web designers and marketing agencies out there. That way, they will design you a site or marketing strategy that works for you. Don’t dilute your content. It’s as simple as that!

Dilution 100

Dilution Web Web Development Flash 100

YoungUpstarts

MAY 6, 2019

Market Research. In this stage, you will also search the market to check if your idea is viable. If there is a gap in the market, there will be demand. Now the question is: How to find gaps in the market? MVP is the product that you can bring to the market. Next is marketing. There is a simple rule of thumb.

Startup 113

Startup Technical Cofounder Merger Early Stage 113

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 5, 2022

Certainly managers need to be better trained, more sensitive to worker needs, and focused on hiring and training the right people for the right job, rather than treating all as soldiers. Outside contracts and freelancing rapidly dilute everyone’s focus on the higher company mission and purpose.

Management 333

Management Dilution Forecast Leadership 333

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2010

How much dilution should I take for it?&# My friend’s company was pre-revenue. Me: “Zero dilution. It meant that the management teams hadn’t figured out a product / market fit for their own businesses. Want to cut prices and go for market share? They often involve big hugs on stage. Want to sell early?

Merger 276

Merger Technical Review Early Stage Dilution 276

VC Adventure

AUGUST 16, 2020

Yet others try to use cash to minimize dilution for early employees and try to rapidly reduce their reliance on options. All good, but different philosophies (and different markets and market conditions) can lead to different initial option programs.

Programming 149

Programming Vesting Equity Software Review 149

Up and Running

JULY 1, 2020

You may grow to tap new markets or increase sales in your current markets. While it’s called a business plan, it can be written and utilized to successfully enter a new market, launch a product, or weigh the potential of adding an employee. A business plan for a new employee in a new market.

Business Plan 152

Business Plan Forecast Operations Dilution 152

Up and Running

JULY 2, 2014

You can’t underestimate the importance of selecting an attorney who “gets” your business model, your market opportunity, and most importantly, your fundraising and exit strategy. of our company in exchange for the $300K, and my business partner and I each diluted from 50% ownership down to 33.3% ownership and never dilute.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Angel Investor Due Diligence Dilution 118

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

One great solution I see is to hire an outstanding CFO who runs both. Still, I’ll bet that functionally you divide areas of competence like sales & marketing, product, engineering, biz dev, etc. I usually encourage people to think about titles like, “Founder & CTO&# or “Founder & VP Marketing.&#.

Operations 292

Operations CTO Hire Startup Early Stage 292

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 19, 2013

The era of VCs investing in successful consumer Internet startups such as eBay led to a belief system that seemed to permeate many enterprise software startups that hiring sales or implementation people was a bad thing. That it is non-dilutive financing? This article initially appeared on TechCrunch. I believe it’s flawed.

Technical Review 403

Technical Review Software Review Startup API 403

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

Due to competitive markets we ended up with a pretty good term sheet until we needed to raise money in April 2001 and then we got completely screwed. You’ll need to hire and retain talen to grow your company. It was accept the terms or go into bankruptcy so we took the money. The VC assumes you’ll have an option pool.

Valuation 405

Valuation Liquidation Preference Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet 405

The Next Web

OCTOBER 10, 2013

Hire everyone you need as an employee. Too dilutive.”. At that time, Mac computers made up a mere 6 percent of the market and I argued we needed to focus on other areas. But having cofounders who can give perspective can help you see a different side of the market. Skills – I do product, business, marketing.

Cofounder 143

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Kenya Dilution 143

The Startup Magazine

JANUARY 12, 2024

However, scaling up too quickly can lead to hurried hiring decisions. The Brand Identity Balancing Act While chasing growth, there’s a risk of diluting what made your brand special in the first place. The Perils Of Market Misjudgment Finally, aggressively pursuing growth might mean entering new markets without fully understanding them.

Intellectual Property 147

Intellectual Property Dilution Security Government 147

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Can you imagine investing in the stock market where your price was determined at a future date and the better that company performed the HIGHER the price you paid for that investment. This has worked very well in the 2009-2012 time frame because the tech market has boomed in this period. So you’re taking all of the pricing risk.

Ratchet 354

Ratchet Liquidation Preference Equity Stock 354

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

FEBRUARY 26, 2019

They don’t know how to analyze a market or competition, so they make it up instead learning how to do it. The implication is that this was unknowable or bad luck, but the truth is, this was a predictable result of not understanding the market. Sometimes that’s airtight product/market it. Selling to the mid-market is hard.

Restful 202

Restful Founder Revenue Acquisition 202

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 1, 2009

I know that people find safety in numbers (and there always seems to be 3 amigos) but imagine this for a moment – you go and raise venture capital and you’re fighting over whether to dilute with a VC by 25% or 30% as a company. Have you worked in marketing / customer acquisition before? - Take your inventory.

Hiring 289

Hiring Cofounder Dilution Startup 289

Business Plan Blog

OCTOBER 4, 2013

Furthermore, when faced with adversity only great teams can respond to competitors, markets, funding environments, staff departures, PR disasters and the like. Don’t hire people with skills and qualifications similar to yours. Hire based on functionality and avoid having too many C’s. Early Stage. Seed to Series A.

Part-Time VPE 79

Part-Time VPE Fractional VPE Cofounder CTO Hire 79

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 30, 2022

Social media is obviously one of the most powerful marketing tools we have at our disposal and it is becoming a non-optional part of a strong marketing strategy. It's possible to grow your business in these conditions as long as you stay flexible and make intelligent staffing choices in this increasingly tight labor market. .

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Green Technical Review Social Media 124

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 9, 2017

Ian Syer founded online art platform MyArtBroker in 2010, after recognising a gap in the market for people to sell the art they own. Vector compass about marketing and life. But that will dilute your focus, time and energy and mean you have less time you to drive the business forward and expand. Don’t work with friends.

Founder 76

Founder Dilution Web Development SEO 76

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.

Employee 48

Employee Seed Stage Startup Equity 48

David Teten

JANUARY 21, 2021

Jonathan Bragdon , CEO, describes Capacity as “a team of founders-turned-funders making non-dilutive, founder-aligned investments of $50-$300k in post-startup, post-revenue businesses planning to 2X revenues in 12-24 months. Capacity Capital , based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, was launched in 2020 with a primary focus on the Southeast.

Equity 78

Equity Revenue Cofounder Colorado 78

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

Rather than dedicating time and resources to an extensive hiring process or training, tapping into this pool of external specialists accelerates progress. Startups need to pose crucial questions: Which tasks are absolutely vital to our brand ethos, and which ones can be safely outsourced without diluting our unique value proposition?

Cost 167

Cost Startup Non-Compete Dilution 167

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

In many instances, you raise an institutional round to either fulfill a product strategy or go-to-market strategy or you’re increasing sales and marketing hires, so you have better visibility into what needs to happen in the next six, 12, 18 months. We also consider the market opportunity.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

thinkspace.com

SEPTEMBER 7, 2012

Marketing Intern. Should founders have anti-dilution rights? I was originally hired as a contractor, developing a SaaS app from scratch, including DB design and coding. Along the way, I was hired full time (I believe about 8 months after I started), a coder from India was hired and another contractor was added to the team.

Equity 62

Equity Employee Founder CTO Hire 62

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 27, 2011

Despite advances in cloud infrastructure, many businesses still have fleshy parts—soft underbellies where a human hand is required to keep quality control, stuff something into a box, order inventory, hire enough engineers to keep the site going or manage cash. Scale brings complexity. If you’re lucky, you realize it in time.

Dilution 104

Dilution Equity Hiring Partner 104

www.avc.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

The most common comment in this long and complicated MBA Mondays series on Employee Equity is the question of how much equity should you grant when you make a hire. For your first key hires, three, five, maybe as much as ten, you will probably not be able to use any kind of formula. Or it can be a public market comp analysis.

Equity 64

Equity Employee CTO Hire Fractional CTO 64

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

With the enormous changes to our economies and financial markets?—?how how on Earth could the venture capital market stand still? One of the most common questions I’m asked by people intrigued by but also scared by venture capital and technology markets is some variant of, “Aren’t technology markets way overvalued?

Pre-Money Valuation 471

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Venture Capital Early Stage 471