article thumbnail

Equity for Early Employees in Early Stage Startups

SoCal CTO

I was asked by a reader how much equity he should give out to early employees and to service providers in a very early stage startup. Founders vs. Early Employees To help with this discussion, let me start with a definition of "early employee." If the company's valuation is $2 million, $90k is 4.5%.

article thumbnail

Want to Know How VC’s Calculate Valuation Differently from Founders?

Both Sides of the Table

Things like “ participating preferred stock &# in legalese unsurprisingly never actually call out, “hey, this is the participating preferred language.&# We got a3x participating liquidation preference with interest (not participating with a 3x cap, but 3x participating. I turned them down.

Valuation 405
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

So What is The Right Level of Burn Rate for a Startup These Days?

Both Sides of the Table

There is much talk these days that startup valuations have decreased and may continue to do so and that the amount of time it takes to fund raise may take longer. The earlier the round, the less capital you need and the more reasonable your valuation the less time that is needed generally to raise capital. Only you know.

Burn Rate 150
article thumbnail

What Do LPs Think of the Venture Capital Markets for 2016?

Both Sides of the Table

LPs See The Over-Valuations and Don’t Like It. LPs have followed the recent press about the over-valuation and over-funding of the startup industry, and they experience these phenomena first hand. The Biggest Area of Concern is Late Stage Investments. All isn’t completely rosy in the LP views of the venture industry.

article thumbnail

Term-sheets and Valuations: Thinking about Negotiations - Startups.

Tim Keane

Term-sheets and Valuations: Thinking about Negotiations.   I’ve sat down with entrepreneurs and a copy of a term sheet guide I like [ “Term Sheets & Valuations - A Line by Line Look at the Intricacies of Venture Capital Term Sheets & Valuations ” by Alex Wilmerding, Aspatore Press.] The Valuation Question.

article thumbnail

Bad Notes on Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

At an accelerator … Me: Raising convertible notes as a seed round is one of the biggest disservices our industry has done to entrepreneurs since 2001-2003 when there were “full ratchets” and “multiple liquidation preferences” – the most hostile terms anybody found in term sheets 10 years ago.

article thumbnail

One Simple Paragraph Every Entrepreneur Should Add to Their Convertible Notes

Both Sides of the Table

When you do a convertible note with a cap that converts into the next round of funding one of the unintended consequences is that if you’re successful and raise at a larger price than your cap the early angels often get “multiple liquidation preferences” on their dollars in.