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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." I'll get to service providers in a later post.

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

Both Sides of the Table

I’m not sure I really even need to write this at length because Nivi absolutely nailed the topic in his article “ The Option Pool Shuffle.&#. When I went to raise money in 2006 I thought I knew every term in a term sheet but somehow I still got a bit duped by the option pool shuffle. No gotchas.

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What is it Like to Negotiate a VC Round?

Both Sides of the Table

In the old days VCs funded off of a “pre-moneyvaluation. If you add the pre-money valuation (let’s say $8 million) to the amount of money you’re raising (let’s say $2 million) you get the post-money valuation. How much is in the option pool?

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How to Evaluate an Offer from a Startup Incubator

The Startup Lawyer

The following are some issues to consider and actions to take before accepting an incubator’s offer: (1) Calculate Valuation and Determine Value. Pre-money valuations startups receive from incubators are typically low…really low. Other incubators may want to set up an option pool.

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Quick Post on Post-Money Valuations

Rob Go

When I first started out as a VC nearly 9 years ago, most early stage company valuations were expressed as pre-money valuations. That is, the valuation of the company prior to the investment of new capital. Today, nearly all early stage term sheets I see are expressed as post-money valuations.

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

Tim Keane

An average of these ranges results in a pre-money valuation of about $4MM.   If similarly situated companies are seeing $3.5MM pre-money valuations, this might become the target valuation.   A cumulative dividend can get to be very expensive and is not often a feature in early stage terms.

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ProfessorVC: Touched by an Angel

Professor VC

Again, I see nothing wrong with this, although entrepreneurs often prefer convertible debt as it defers the valuation discussion and leaves the Series A price for the venture firm to set. He also said they typically only invest at a $1 million pre-money valuation or less.