Steve Blank

APRIL 9, 2009

Department Mission Statements – What am I Supposed to Do Today It wasn’t that we somehow had inherited dumb employees. We hired union laborers to do that. I hired a Director of Product Marketing who in his last company had ran its marketing and then went out into the field and became its national sales director.

Silicon Valley 269

Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS PR 269

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

We’re currently evaluating about 20 companies a month and issuing term sheets to 25% of them; those that fit our investment criteria. The mode purpose for funding is (in order of frequency) Sales, Marketing, Market Expansion, Product Development, and Hiring Employees. The average monthly operating expenses is $70,335.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

chrischandler.name

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

Equity to a developer works the same way, except it’s often approached as hiring an employee instead of bringing on an investor. Be prepared with your business plan, term sheet, and probably a beer. Starting a business is no small feat and you will certainly need all the help you can get to bring your idea to life.

Equity 40

Equity Developer Entrepreneur Syndicate 40

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2011

One of the most common questions that entrepreneurs who meet me for the first time like to ask is, “Do you miss being an entrepreneur? I thought I’d talk a bit about the differences I’ve experienced between being an entrepreneur & a VC – you know, from “both sides of the table.&#. On Being an Entrepreneur.

Entrepreneur 176

Entrepreneur Startup Salary Egypt 176

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

Yet a critical mistake I see many entrepreneurs make is that they hand over too much control to their third-parties. On balance I usually prefer to recruit people from my network both in terms of saving costs as well as hiring people I know & trust. Recruiters. Real Estate professionals. You name it. We need them all.

Term Sheet 319

Term Sheet PR Liquidation Preference Stock Options 319

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

We have significant VC commitments (listed below) – every entering company will get $50,000 in funding, mentorship from top VCs and successful entrepreneurs plus free office space. CEO on front cover of Entrepreneur magazine. For any company interested in applying please visit the website. For the past 2.5

Los Angeles 287

Los Angeles Silicon Valley Incubator Startup 287

Feld Thoughts

DECEMBER 29, 2011

In my book, there is only one real reason for this – to a ttract new potential employees : “We’ve just raised $X and are hiring 20 people including types A through types Q – see our jobs page at jobs.companyname.com and apply now.” Make it clear that you are hiring. Have your jobs page up.

Finance 133

Finance SEC Term Sheet Acquisition 133

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2015

There is a possibility that Amex may explore acquisitions within the Amex Ventures portfolio, but those discussions will be on market terms similar to those with other potential acquirers.”. Entrepreneurs today expect more than just capital from their investors. Corporate VC networks extend beyond their own parent companies.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Balance Sheet Technical Review Portfolio 60

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

. × At Greylock , my partners and I are driven by one guiding mission: always help entrepreneurs. It doesn’t matter whether an entrepreneur is in our portfolio, whether we’re considering an investment, or whether we’re casually meeting for the first time. Entrepreneurs often ask me for help with their pitch decks.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Revenue Viral Networking 111

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 11, 2012

submitting term sheets. I have never signed a contract on these terms. So if you hire a senior sales rep with 100% bonus on top of their $150,000 base salary they want to get paid $100,000 (33% of $300,000). Why should I pay 2x the price to hire a VP of sales as I would pay to hire a VP of Market, Technology or Finance?

Mexico 305

Mexico Term Sheet Hiring Search 305

Gust

OCTOBER 2, 2014

It’s what life was like as an entrepreneur. But this is nothing like the stress of being an entrepreneur. What’s it really like being an entrepreneur? You probably follow some high-profile entrepreneurs on Instagram and Twitter and see conference pictures of them in Davos, Mexico, Monaco or wherever. And so it goes again.

Monaco 122

Monaco Cofounder Chicago Mexico 122

Rob Go

JUNE 17, 2014

In almost every financing round, there is an important stipulation in the term sheet that talks about the employee option pool that will be created in tandem with the financing. Essentially, the new investor wants there to be a certain % of options available to employees after they invest.

Option Pool 65

Option Pool Dilution .Net Term Sheet 65

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 15, 2010

Dan Primack, who is now writing a great column at Fortune called Term Sheet used to do this; there are now guest writers (including me) who do this column. We decided to write a book by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. I periodically write the first column for PE Hub. Writing a book is hard. Really hard.

Term Sheet 106

Term Sheet Seattle Angel Investor Bootstrapping 106

Spencer Fry

DECEMBER 7, 2011

I don't think there's a more difficult or stressful job than being an entrepreneur. Being an entrepreneur, though, has an emotional component to it that no professor, instructor, mentor or amount of reading can prepare you for. We're not all entrepreneurs. Why Investors Back Second Time Entrepreneurs. Don't do this alone.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Startup Term Sheet IPO 78

www.mattbartus.com

DECEMBER 9, 2012

Let’s say you receive a term sheet for a $1 million investment at a $3 million fully diluted pre-money valuation, and you’re kind of disappointed. I just worked on a financing for a company that received a term sheet from a group of VCs at a $7 million pre-money valuation. Why else might this be useful?

Warrant 40

Warrant Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet 40

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

As I discussed last week in the Greymatter podcast with my friend and Blitzscaling co-author Chris Yeh , I believe that a knowledge of philosophy is actually a great asset for entrepreneurs. To say categorically that MBA equals “not entrepreneur” is a foolish assumption, just like saying Masters in Philosophy equals “not entrepreneur.”

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

As I discussed last week in the Greymatter podcast with my friend and Blitzscaling co-author Chris Yeh , I believe that a knowledge of philosophy is actually a great asset for entrepreneurs. To say categorically that MBA equals “not entrepreneur” is a foolish assumption, just like saying Masters in Philosophy equals “not entrepreneur.”

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 17, 2020

We literally started just as we got our first term sheet for investment on the day that we graduated from business school in June of 2006. And it was actually the same time that Kristen was giving birth to her first baby, literally the same day that we received the term sheet and graduated from business school.

Cofounder 60

Cofounder Security Founder Entrepreneur 60

venturehacks.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Paul says, “Whenever you’re trading stock in your company for anything, whether it’s money or an employee or a deal with another company, the test for whether to do it is the same. Consider the opportunity cost of spending shares on employees and investors. We previously posted a table of market rates for employees.

Equity 40

Equity Cap Table Valuation RSS 40

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 31, 2019

He's been with the firm since its inception in 2009 and has overseen its rapid growth, from three employees to 150+ and from $300 million in assets under management to more than $10 billion. You've seen how venture capital works from both sides--as an entrepreneur and a venture capitalist.

Lean 108

Lean Venture Capital Conversion IPO 108

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Other investors are using Trello , Basecamp , and Monday for making sure that everyone at the firm knows one anothers’ long-term OKRs and short-term projects. Point Nine Capital uses 15Five for continuous employee feedback. ff Venture Capital hired two full-time engineers to build out Totem. 2) Market .

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 20, 2016

All Unicorn participants — founders, company employees, venture investors and their limited partners (LPs) — are seeing their fortunes put at risk from the very nature of the Unicorn phenomenon itself. And there are also modern examples of investors beating the founders and employees out the door. Who are the Sharks?

IPO 40

IPO Term Sheet Silicon Valley Valuation 40

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 2, 2010

It’s the story of persistence in entrepreneurs. As a VC I’m acutely that a “yes&# decision to support an entrepreneur can do just that, yet I only write 2-4 of them per year and maybe another 3-4 as an angel. I try not to go out to entrepreneur events in LA every night – I have work to get done and a family.

Europe 352

Europe France San Francisco Chicago 352

BeyondVC

OCTOBER 8, 2003

The term sheet that the company signed was led by a strategic investor and contingent on finding another VC as a co-lead. The only other term sheet he had was at a much lower valuation but in his mind a little too onerous. The only other term sheet he had was at a much lower valuation but in his mind a little too onerous.

Sweat Equity 60

Sweat Equity Term Sheet Bankruptcy Salary 60

Austin Startup

MAY 19, 2018

If we think you may be cutting a sizable check and joining the board, we are evaluating you as a potential employee of our company. If you have some common friends, feel free to ask around about them, but if you want to talk to former employees, colleagues or other investors, don’t until you are fully committed.

Founder 75

Founder Early Stage Software Review Deal Flow 75

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

Number of employees? You’ll see a Term Sheet, Stock Purchase Agreement, Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, Investors’ Rights Agreement, Right of First Refusal and Co-Sale Agreement and a Voting Agreement. serial entrepreneur. Business Model: List all the parts of your business model. A “hot” market.

Cofounder 431

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 431

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

Investors evaluate startups the way customers evaluate products,not the way bosses evaluate employees. A company that needed to build a factory or hire 50people obviously needed to raise a certain minimum amount. You may be a great entrepreneur, working on interesting stuff, etc. How likely are they to offer you a term sheet?What

Bootstrapping 77

Bootstrapping Term Sheet Founder Startup 77

venturehacks.com

OCTOBER 21, 2010

Use a hiring plan to justify a small option pool, increase your share price, and increase your effective valuation. Later that evening you review the term sheet from Blue Shirt. As your lawyer explains that the so-called pre-money valuation always includes a large unallocated option pool for new employees, your stomach sinks.

Option Pool 68

Option Pool Pre-Money Valuation Dilution Warrant 68

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JUNE 27, 2011

Most entrepreneurs would love to be in a position to have to decide! I just coached an entrepreneur who couldn’t decide whether to accept an offer for selling his business of nine years. It’s not the number, it’s the whole term sheet. I covered the buyer side there; now let’s tackle the seller.

Sales 235

Sales Term Sheet Stock Deal Structure 235

grasshopperherder.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Some have been as co-founder, most have been as a consultant with the possibility of becoming an paid employee, “as soon as we close our funding round.” As such, you should make sure to think of the proposals as an investor and get a reasonable term sheet. ” Again, this has been very generous and flattering.

Sweat Equity 41

Sweat Equity Equity Cofounder Non-Compete 41

Up and Running

MARCH 29, 2017

I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur long before I could even spell entrepreneur. I’d always been an entrepreneur, so having my first taste of a full-time job was something I was both happy to do and gave me a great sense of what that “other life” would look like. See Also: What Do Venture Capital Firms Want?

Term Sheet 60

Term Sheet Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Valuation 60

mashable.com

JUNE 11, 2013

Lucky for you, time-strapped entrepreneur, weve gathered some tips from the pros to help you avoid some of the most common, game-ending mistakes committed by young startups. Hiring Poorly. Make sure that new hires understand your rate of innovation. Often times, that work eventually goes beyond your job description.

Cofounder 111

Cofounder Technical Review Startup Software Review 111

steveblank.com

JULY 8, 2011

Grasshopper – virtual phone system Ringio – cloud phone system RingCentral – cloud based phone system InDinero – easy business finance software Expensify – billing, expenses, receipts Resumator – applicant tracking and social recruiting RecruiterBox – recruitment software, applicant tracking ActiveInterview (..)

Software Review 110

Software Review Startup Silicon Valley Analytics 110

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

A group of Seedcamp entrepreneurs started a startup tools wiki for that purpose, and we thought it would be well suited here. BambooHR -Â Employee Records, Benefit Information, Payroll Data, etc. find/hire freelancers. hire low-cost international engineering talent. VWorker -Â find/hire freelancers. Freelance Help.

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53