Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 28, 2011

Nearly all startup employees receive a number of options figure in their offer. It is best for employees to understand as much as possible about their option grants (this subject could be the topic for an entire series), but the first place to start is to ask how many outstanding shares there are.

Startup 121

Startup Equity Vesting Salary 121

Genuine VC

JANUARY 22, 2013

About a year ago, I wrote a post about how office space is the face of a startup – it communicates both an outward message and provides insight into what’s going on underneath, as the physical environment in which startup employees work inevitably match the company’s story and culture.

Boston 169

Boston Startup Portfolio Green 169

Genuine VC

MARCH 20, 2012

Or, it wants to ascribe internal prestige to the early employees (i.e. “I I was the first John”) that will not whither as the company grows. jsmith@startup.com <– This convention conveys the importance of scalability in the organization, even from the founding stage… most likely stemming from a technical founder.

Email 278

Email Stealth Startup Vertical 278

Genuine VC

SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

Recruiting new employees is one of the most important selling jobs that a Founder/CEO does in the first couple years of a startup’s life (and subsequently for that matter). So when recruiting a new employee, by all means put the best foot forward. Selling to customers.

Startup 123

Startup Cofounder Employee Hiring 123

Genuine VC

MARCH 20, 2012

Or, it wants to ascribe internal prestige to the early employees (i.e. “I I was the first John”) that will not whither as the company grows. jsmith@startup.com <– This convention conveys the importance of scalability in the organization, even from the founding stage… most likely stemming from a technical founder.

Email 248

Email Stealth Startup Vertical 248

Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 29, 2012

That situation certainly can work very well early on in a company’s life-cycle when there are a dozen or less employees. Of course with technology-enabled startups, the goal s of a company are not to add employees. Perhaps it can work even in larger organizations in which the nature of the work is inherently distributed by nature.

Estonia 100

Estonia Startup Distribution Chicago 100

Genuine VC

OCTOBER 23, 2012

I’m definitely not in the rainmaker category that I think a lot of young companies look for… in the short run I’ll be more like a part-time employee than an advisor, but expect that will change if the company moves forward. 3) Any other advice or experience with advisory relationships?

Equity 116

Equity Cofounder Early Stage Framework 116

Genuine VC

MARCH 18, 2014

In the past, one could argue that early founders + employees + angels have different risk/reward profiles in comparison to later-round financiers funders and are rationally willing to sacrifice upside in return for greater certainty of outcome; however, the emergence of liquidity options for these early players has diminished that negation.

Seed Stage 202

Seed Stage Dividend Finance Portfolio 202

Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 11, 2013

Allow for customer / partner / advisor / employee conversations. Additional information about the market sizing, competitive dynamics, potential acquirers, etc. can help educate an investor about a space where s/he is less familiar.

Affiliate 236

Affiliate Partner Entrepreneur Customer 236

Genuine VC

JUNE 22, 2011

But they also reveal subtle cues about a company’s core, just as a face does, too… A startup’s office directly speaks to prospective & current employees, customers, and investors… there isn’t one “right way” that companies’ offices should look. Quite the contrary.

Seed Stage 123

Seed Stage Boston Incubator Portfolio 123

Genuine VC

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

TripAdvisor, Brightcove, Constant Contact, Wayfair) over the past few years where employees are beginning to roll out to start new ventures. But second, we’ve also had a number of internet successes which have trained and developed people (e.g.

Boston 206

Boston Internet Entrepreneur .Net 206

Genuine VC

JUNE 28, 2011

Usually you’ve already made a selection of whatever type (hiring a new employee, deciding on a VC, choosing a new vendor), and then the next/final logical step in a “process” is to call a few people just to verify what you’ve already decided.

Due Diligence 159

Due Diligence Green Conversion Founder 159

Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

Of course, finding a more senior level person at the company is better, but given the (hopefully) ever-growing pace of a hot startup, usually nearly all employees can put you on their hiring evaluation path because they frequently have implemented a specific process for it.

Startup 148

Startup Portfolio Later Stage Hiring 148