David Teten

APRIL 1, 2021

I’ve recently advised a number of emerging private equity and VC funds who are wrestling with the question: What are the highest impact steps they can take to support their portfolio companies? . Almost every private equity and venture capital investor now advertises that they have a platform to support their portfolio companies.

Private Equity 78

Private Equity Venture Capital Portfolio Equity 78

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2020

Early stage burn rates over $50K per month, or a runway of less than six months may indicate an inefficient or desperate startup. Most founders like to talk about their many months or years of sweat-equity , but cash invested is a stronger commitment. Think twice before you jump in. How complex is the capitalization table?

Technical Review 436

Technical Review Due Diligence Sweat Equity Burn Rate 436

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2023

Early stage burn rates over $50K per month, or a runway of less than six months may indicate an inefficient or desperate startup. Most founders like to talk about their many months or years of sweat-equity , but cash invested is a stronger commitment. Think twice before you jump in. How complex is the capitalization table?

Sweat Equity 207

Sweat Equity Burn Rate Technical Review Intellectual Property 207

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2020

In addition to being the startup entrepreneur, there are other key roles where Boomers can be a force in driving successful startups, in concert with leaders from Gen-X and Gen-Y: Early-stage angel investors. Often the Boomer is more willing to work for equity, and easily convinced to step aside when revenues reach that next threshold.

Advisory Board 312

Advisory Board Startup Dividend Angel Investor 312

David Teten

MARCH 14, 2018

Sophisticated VC and private equity funds have a wide array of options for leveraging outside operating executives. – Hire more non-Partner staff. – Hire more Partners. For a VC fund to be actively engaged in a large number of investments, it needs to hire more Partners to sit on more boards.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Cofounder 60

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

I am fond of quoting that about 70% of my investment decision of an early-stage company is the team. But not anal if one founder who shares equity graciously with early employees who are treated as “co-founders” My idea startup team is heaving on tech personnel but also has strong product management.

Cofounder 388

Cofounder Early Stage Startup Silicon Valley 388

ReadWriteStart

MARCH 3, 2021

Still, you need to find some way to pull your company out of this early-stage quicksand. First, we need to address the core challenges of developing effective early-stage growth strategies for new businesses. You can’t afford to hire a full team or place a Super Bowl ad, so you’ll need something more reasonably priced.

Early Stage 125

Early Stage PPC Retention Churn Rate 125

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

Private equity and venture capital investors are copying our sisters in the hedge fund and mutual fund world: we’re trying to automate more of our job. High-frequency trading, algorithmic by its nature, is estimated to account for at least 50% of US equity markets trading volume. . But we’re doing it slowly. 4) Manage deal flow.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

ReadWriteStart

DECEMBER 15, 2022

It provides the freedom to partner with entrepreneurs and reduce the costs of agency work in exchange for equity in their startup. This allows the studio to retain a larger stake in internally funded startups and gain equity in other startups through partnerships. Understanding Pain Points Within Multiple Business Sectors.

Incubator 188

Incubator Startup Software Developers Software Development 188

YoungUpstarts

MAY 27, 2019

Other businesses fail because they raise the wrong kind of money, such as debt they can’t repay on time or equity that causes them to lose control of their business. You have to be careful, and realize you will make mistakes, about who you hire early in the life of your company. Inexperience can lead to overconfidence.

Cofounder 170

Cofounder Private Equity Software Review Equity 170

Up and Running

DECEMBER 1, 2015

Of course, not every equity compensation story is a David Choe Story. If you’re thinking about extending equity to an employee or a vendor (as in the example above), you should know that the topic is multi-faceted. In this article, I’m going to examine: What equity compensation is. Different types of equity compensation.

Equity 60

Equity Employee Stock Options Vesting 60

techcrunch.com

AUGUST 12, 2012

Zachary Bogue And Matt Ocko Launch Data Collective, An Early Stage Fund For Big Data Startups. Data Collective has already made 46 investments from its first fund, which it calls “comparable with other seed and early stage funds” (Ocko and Bogue wouldn’t reveal fund size.). Headphones. CrunchBase.

Early Stage 70

Early Stage San Francisco Los Angeles Southern California 70

Hunter Walker

MAY 13, 2023

Especially in the early days of mobile/iOS engineering, if you hired strong technical talent into your early stage company, you basically created an acquisition outcome floor. Those who do, often believe they can hire from the open market without the hassle of an acquisition. Very different.

Early Stage 117

Early Stage Cap Table Acquisition Sales 117

www.drowningamerican.com

JUNE 22, 2012

Next → How to Hire for Sweat Equity…. Here is the original post: Early Stage Web Application Start-Up Seeking Developer/Designer. That being said the following is available to the right candidate: • 3-5% equity in the company (based on experience). • $50,000/year salary once we obtain funding (target: January, 2010).

Sweat Equity 40

Sweat Equity Equity Hiring Technical Review 40

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 12, 2019

While the rewards may be a boon to their company in the short term, the consequences of accepting outside funding too early can be debilitating. There’s a reason why I refer to early-stage VC funding as vulture capital, and to be honest it’s pretty accurate. Just because you can afford to hire, doesn’t mean that you should.

Early Stage 85

Early Stage Venture Capital Bootstrapping Pre-Money Valuation 85

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

You have an edge in the highly competitive world of early stage investing that comes from some combination of your experience, industry knowledge, and personal network. You have an authentic passion for startups and a deep respect for entrepreneurship. You act as an “ invited guest.”. consumer, etc.). Interested?

Technical Review 156

Technical Review North America Seed Stage Bandwidth 156

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

They allow you to hire more people, purchase new technology, and establish new business connections, among many other benefits. When you accept outside money, particularly a private equity (PE) investment, however, that changes. When you accept outside money, particularly a private equity (PE) investment, however, that changes.

Private Equity 94

Private Equity Pre-Money Valuation Equity Startup 94

techcrunch.com

JUNE 22, 2012

Free Startup Docs: How Much Equity Should Advisors Get? Entrepreneurs want to compensate their mentors and advisors for the time they dedicate to helping their businesses grow, but they have no idea how much equity to offer. In particular, Ressi said, the team is interested in reactions to the above equity matrix. Headphones.

Equity 94

Equity San Francisco Startup Silicon Valley 94

www.entrepreneur.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

What is Sweat Equity Worth? Determining how to value sweat equity is key when negotiating with investors and employees. Entrepreneurs often ask me how to value the sweat equity invested in their startup. But over the years, I have come to realize that sweat equity isn't the same thing as market value for your startup.

Sweat Equity 55

Sweat Equity Equity Fractional CTO CTO 55

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

“The final product works great, and all the early users love it.” You are now entering the rollout stage , with money required for marketing, hiring a full-time team, and a production process. This is the exit stage for the entrepreneur, and for all earlier investors.

Angel Investor 313

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 313

Steve Blank

MAY 19, 2015

Organizational debt is all the people/culture compromises made to “just get it done” in the early stages of a startup. While he kept bringing the conversation back to their big valuation I tried to steer the conversation back to how they were going to deal with: training the influx of new hires – in both culture and job specific tasks.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Salary Early Stage Software Review 120

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 1, 2014

In addition to being the startup entrepreneur, there are other key roles where Boomers can be a force in driving successful startups, in concert with leaders from Gen-X and Gen-Y: Early-stage Angel investors. Often the Boomer is more willing to work for equity, and easily convinced to step aside when revenues reach that next threshold.

Entrepreneur 266

Entrepreneur Advisory Board Dividend Angel Investor 266

www.drowningamerican.com

JUNE 22, 2012

Next → How we Hire for Sweat Equity (Part 2)… Posted on April 7, 2011 by Travis Biziorek. The first time we hired partners for Kibin was way back in late 2009. I’ve heard people say it’s impossible to hire good developers right now. I want to hire before I have the ability to pay anyone.

Sweat Equity 40

Sweat Equity Equity Hiring Technical Review 40

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 18, 2024

On the other hand, they could be the opposite—much more focused on near-term cash distributions than long-term equity appreciation. Governance Moreso than a lot of actual VCs, a lot of high-net-worth folks tend to ask for board representation—even in the super early stages of a company where boards tend to be a little less formal.

.Net 88

.Net Cap Table Startup Technical Review 88

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2015

Every investor in your startup, even friends and family, normally expects a share of your company (equity), which means your return for all your effort goes down quickly. This is at least double the time required for most equity investments, and may be a delay you can’t afford in keeping up with the market and your competitors.

SBIR 120

SBIR Equity Technical Review Early Stage 120

SoCal CTO

MAY 27, 2010

And I always recommend it to people involved in early stage startups. I received a follow-up question from an early-stage startup about the Founder Developer Gap that I’ve described before and that was part of the interview with Frank. Sometimes this is fatal for early stage companies. What Should You Do?

CTO Hire 170

CTO Hire Developer Founder Startup 170

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

I recently wrote a post about why I didn’t think early-stage startups should have COOs. One great solution I see is to hire an outstanding CFO who runs both. Dilute your cash, equity or both. In summary, tons of early-stage M&A is driven by only one thing: CEO ego. But they aren’t the COO.

Operations 292

Operations CTO Hire Startup Early Stage 292

Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 18, 2013

Following is his advice to early stage entrepreneurs for creating structure in their company. Here’s the punchline: if you run your company as if you have closed a VC equity financing round even though you actually closed a convertible debt round, you’ll be in much better shape when it comes time to raise your Series A financing.

Burn Rate 152

Burn Rate Equity Software Review Early Stage 152

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

So even within the “alternative class&# our LPs are looking at other asset investment choices such as distressed buyout funds, private equity or hedge funds. You don’t have to hire as many sales people because much can be sold online. There is also True Ventures that does early stage, seed investments.

LP 311

LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2010

I can save tons of development time and I think I can buy it for all equity. They often involve big hugs on stage. But to be clear the overwhelming majority of deals involve one company driving the cultural integration, establishment of uniform processes, hiring / firing decisions, etc. Me: “Zero dilution.

Merger 276

Merger Technical Review Early Stage Dilution 276

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

The average amount per startup has been $23,000, usually in the form of a convertible loan, rather than an equity investment. The vehicle of choice is most often a convertible note, which is really a loan with a specified duration and interest, with an option to convert it to equity when professional investors come in later.

Sweat Equity 274

Sweat Equity Elevator Pitch Startup Equity 274

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2020

“The final product works great, and all the early users love it.” You are now entering the rollout stage , with money required for marketing, hiring a full-time team, and a production process. This is the exit stage for the entrepreneur, and for all earlier investors.

Angel Investor 370

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 370

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

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. After celebrating success at that level, they often find themselves ill-prepared to move to the next stage, for scaling their business into a high-performing enterprise. Hire more help than helpers. There is no free lunch.

Mezzanine 368

Mezzanine Private Equity Bandwidth Metrics 368

View from Seed

AUGUST 6, 2015

When someone goes to work for an early startup, the compensation package general includes an annual salary, health insurance, and, instead of fixed-cost performance upside, a percentage of unvested options to purchase equity in the company. It falls on the hiring company to thoroughly explain equity options to their new employees.

Equity 120

Equity Employee Cap Table Stock Options 120

Up and Running

MARCH 12, 2019

In many areas, however, the high demand for tech talent appears to be larger than the supply of qualified tech and software developers for hire. If you’re in the early stages of starting your tech-based or SaaS business , it makes good sense to consider IP (intellectual property) protection a critical part of your business model.

IP 80

IP Software Developers Software Development Intellectual Property 80

NZ Entrepreneur

SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

experiments to build a product, find customers, test business models and hire amazing people. It is not uncommon for startup directors to be more deeply involved in the operations of the business when the company is entering a new market, hiring critical team members or raising capital. This equity will vest over 2-3 years.

Technical Review 88

Technical Review Software Review New Zealand Due Diligence 88