The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 11, 2023

The following is a condensed explanation of seed funding: Seed money is a form of early-stage financing that new businesses receive from investors in exchange for a share of ownership in the company. This could be a proportion of the company’s equity or investment; in other instances, it could be a portion of its later-stage profits.

Seed Stage 124

Seed Stage Technical Review Early Stage Due Diligence 124

Steve Blank

APRIL 26, 2022

They offered desperate founders more cash but insisted on new terms, rewriting all the old stock agreements that previous investors and employees had. For existing investors, sometimes it was a “pay-to-play” i.e. if you don’t participate in the new financing you lose. W hy would any founder agree to this? They’re Back.

Cram Down 408

Cram Down Founder Venture Capital Recapitalization 408

Austin Startup

OCTOBER 11, 2021

the world’s largest senior care network and technology platform which recently acquired global home care provider Home Instead , today announced it has raised $70 million in Series E funding and $300 million in debt financing. The round brings Honor’s total equity funding to date to $325 million and values the company at over $1.25

Technical Review 62

Technical Review Engineer Finance Technology 62

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 20, 2019

by Chris Grey, co-founder and COO of CapLinked. This used to be one of the least automated components, but now software like Workday and 15Five are building platforms to assist workflow with related systems that support employee management. Finance companies now consider mobile oriented tech as part of the core work-flow.

Technical Review 127

Technical Review Software Review Private Equity Cofounder 127

www.avc.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Employee Equity: How Much? The most common comment in this long and complicated MBA Mondays series on Employee Equity is the question of how much equity should you grant when you make a hire. And the amount of equity you need to grant to accomplish these hires is also an art and most certainly not a science.

Equity 64

Equity Employee CTO Hire Fractional CTO 64

David Teten

MARCH 14, 2018

Managers of VC funds typically want to grow their business aggressively, just like the founders we back. Among the sites we have found most helpful with practical guides for founders: Biztree , First Search , Foundersuite , Goodwin Founders Workbench , Guides.co , Inc.com , and StartupRocket. .

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Cofounder 60

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2017

I read commentary or Twitter or blogs and realize that there are also strongly held convictions that there are these evil VCs who do terrible things to mostly altruistic founders. But unlike the popular press reporting of this conflict — 80% of the time it is founder-to-founder conflict and not investor-to-founder conflict.

Cofounder 217

Cofounder Stock Options Equity Technical Review 217

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 16, 2020

If the situation is dire, you may also consider recapitalizing the business through a debt refinancing or by selling equity. See if you and your finance staff can answer these questions: When did my business become unprofitable, and what caused the change? Stop founder salaries. Furlough non-essential employees.

Recapitalization 200

Recapitalization Forecast Software Review Finance 200

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2013

There is so much written these days about how to attract investors that most entrepreneurs “assume” they need funding, and don’t even consider a plan for “bootstrapping,” or self-financing their startup. In fact, most of the rich entrepreneurs you know actively turned away early equity proposals. Need expensive resources up front.

Bootstrapping 252

Bootstrapping Sweat Equity Entrepreneur Technical Review 252

Scott Edward Walker

OCTOBER 19, 2020

In a couple of cases, the founders played lawyer on their own; in the other cases, the founders either used (i) a Web service that did not address IP issues or (ii) an inexperienced law firm. This would arise as a result of a founder improperly “moonlighting” (i.e., Any IP created by a founder (e.g.,

IP 52

IP Software Review Founder Technical Review 52

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 4, 2019

by Vinnie Fisher, co-founder and chief visionary of Total CEO and author of “ The Best Investment: A Better You “ As the end of the fiscal year approaches, many new business owners are finding themselves panicking to get their books in order. Balancing Assets, Liabilities, and Owner’s Equity. Making Choices.

Balance Sheet 172

Balance Sheet Software Review Equity Cofounder 172

www.entrepreneur.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Entrepreneur Homepage Startups Starting a Business Home How-To Guides Startup Basics Business Ideas Business Planning Startup Financing Success Stories Home-Based Business Starting a Business Play Video How to Take a New Product from Just an Idea to a Business (Video). Financing Some Jobs Act Proposals Make Headway. July 31, 2007 |.

Sweat Equity 55

Sweat Equity Equity Fractional CTO CTO 55

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

There is so much written these days about how to attract investors that most entrepreneurs “assume” they need funding, and don’t even consider a plan for “bootstrapping,” or self-financing their startup. In fact, most of the rich entrepreneurs you know actively turned away early equity proposals. Need expensive resources up front.

Sweat Equity 255

Sweat Equity Technical Review Entrepreneur Bootstrapping 255

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

There is so much written these days about how to attract investors that most entrepreneurs “assume” they need funding, and don’t even consider a plan for “bootstrapping,” or self-financing their startup. In fact, most of the rich entrepreneurs you know actively turned away early equity proposals. Need expensive resources up front.

Sweat Equity 239

Sweat Equity Technical Review Bootstrapping Equity 239

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Quick summary: Be careful not to have too many co-founders. I don’t think VCs care as much about co-founders & economics as people think. Equally – a great VP Finance can be leveraged well to take on finance, legal, HR and much of the operational tasks. For the wrong reasons. Limit the number of VCs.

Cofounder 388

Cofounder Early Stage Startup Silicon Valley 388

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

This structure offers some of the benefits of traditional equity VC, without some of the negatives of equity VC. I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital. For background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Up and Running

AUGUST 30, 2021

Entrepreneurs have to get really comfortable with rejection, especially as a first-time founder. This is what most founders do. It can be a small and nimble startup like Origin, or a company with 50 employees and hiring more every quarter. The same goes for recruiting employees. Solve the rest later. This slows you down.

Entrepreneur 132

Entrepreneur Lean Colorado Engineer 132

Gust

DECEMBER 15, 2013

There is so much written these days about how to attract investors that most entrepreneurs “assume” they need funding, and don’t even consider a plan for “bootstrapping,” or self-financing their startup. In fact, most of the rich entrepreneurs you know actively turned away early equity proposals. Need expensive resources up front.

Bootstrapping 183

Bootstrapping Sweat Equity Entrepreneur Technical Review 183

www.instigatorblog.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Changing Equity Structures for Early Startup Employees Tweet Recently someone asked me for advice on how much equity they should give to their early employees. His company had just closed an early round of funding and he wanted to cement the employee relationships. Those first employees will take 0.5-1%

Equity 41

Equity Employee Startup Vesting 41

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

When you accept outside money, particularly a private equity (PE) investment, however, that changes. In this article, I’ll provide some personal stories of how investors have navigated the balance between raising private equity capital and not losing control of their startup. You make all the decisions, when you want, how you want.

Private Equity 94

Private Equity Pre-Money Valuation Equity Startup 94

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 2, 2011

As Finance Fridays continues, we are introducing the concept of the Cap Table. The founders each have common shares that will vest over four years. The vesting schedule protects each of the co-founders in case one gets hit by a bus or decides to drop the project after a short period of time. Time to update the cap table.

Cap Table 133

Cap Table CTO Hire Technical Cofounder Cofounder 133

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 7, 2013

The picture to the left is of Ryan Martens, Rally’s founder and CTO, giving Josie Health, the CEO of The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County , a check for $676,000. I remember numerous conversations with Ryan about this. He wanted to build a sense of corporate social responsibility into Rally from day one.

Community 182

Community Colorado Common Stock Equity 182

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Finance | Tuesdays. Financing a Small Business. Financing A Small Business. Personal Finance. Employee Benefits. Should You Share Equity with Consultants? a 50-employee provider of e-marketing solutions to small and midsize businesses, based in Needham, Mass. Start-up | Mondays. Innovation | Fridays.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

Altgate

JUNE 25, 2012

—————– Dead equity — equity held by employees and founders no longer working at the company — is a large and growing problem. Choe opted to forgo a cash payment “in the thousands” for the equity equivalent at the time. Re-posted from post co-authored with Prof.

Equity 44

Equity Vesting Cap Table Technical Review 44

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. By definition, second-stage ventures generally have 10 to 99 employees and/or $750,000 to $50 million in revenue, and see that as just the beginning. Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge.

Mezzanine 368

Mezzanine Private Equity Bandwidth Metrics 368

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Finance | Tuesdays. Financing a Small Business. Financing A Small Business. Personal Finance. Employee Benefits. Will Work for Equity. Dave Graham Business Venture Capital Private Equity GlobalLogic Inc. Jumpstart wasnt much at the time, just four employees working from home offices.

Arizona 40

Arizona Equity Iowa Venture Capital 40

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

He has grown our US operations from 1 employee (him) to a global organization of 75 employees that will finish the year with 8-digit revenues (90+% recurring) and more than 350% year-over-year growth. It consists of a highly intelligent and opinionated founder – Nick Halstead. It is really working. Always seek input.

Advisory Board 365

Advisory Board CTO Hire Fractional CTO Los Angeles 365

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 7, 2017

But employee option pool is important enough that I wanted to briefly expand upon my comment above. Employee options pools, typically created at the point of financings, shouldn’t be treated as haggling over dilution, but rather a strategic resource that will help founders build the best team and, by extension, a more valuable company.

Equity 94

Equity Pre-Money Valuation Option Pool Founder 94

Hunter Walker

JUNE 10, 2016

These people are true founders and entrepreneurs just like any venture backed company. HW: At Homebrew we see lots of startups wanting to serve the small/growing business segment with software tools ranging from ecommerce, to point of sale to employees backoffice and so on. Hunter Walk: Can you share the founding story of ArtJamz ?

Technical Review 50

Technical Review Equity SBA Software Review 50

www.seriesseed.com

DECEMBER 9, 2012

Series Seed Financing Documents Blog. Series Seed Financing Documents. Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Series Seed Financing Documents : 1 Reblog. We went with equity because ivestors would prefer to get equity for the following reasons: 1. SeriesSeed.com. Blog Archives. Will try and fix today.

Finance 40

Finance Term Sheet Vesting LLC 40

Hunter Walker

JUNE 10, 2016

These people are true founders and entrepreneurs just like any venture backed company. HW: At Homebrew we see lots of startups wanting to serve the small/growing business segment with software tools ranging from ecommerce, to point of sale to employees backoffice and so on. Hunter Walk: Can you share the founding story of ArtJamz ?

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Equity SBA Software Review 48

genylabs.typepad.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Working for Equity Instead of Cash. has an article on service firms waiving their fees and instead taking equity in their clients. Interest in this waned when the Internet bust resulted in most tech start-up equity becoming worthless, but it seems to be coming back. Not all start-up stock is created equally.

Equity 40

Equity Technical Review San Jose Stock 40

www.mattbartus.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Perspectives on issues affecting founders, startups and investors from a veteran startup lawyer in Silicon Valley. Equity for Consultants – Keep it Simple! posted Feb 3 in Equity , People issues. for every hour works, consultant accrues [hourly wage]in debt that will convert to equity in the next round). About Matt.

Equity 40

Equity Vesting Silicon Valley Intellectual Property 40

Altgate

AUGUST 25, 2012

—————– Dead equity — equity held by employees and founders no longer working at the company — is a large and growing problem. Choe opted to forgo a cash payment “in the thousands” for the equity equivalent at the time. Re-posted from post co-authored with Prof.

Equity 28

Equity Vesting Cap Table Technical Review 28

www.drowningamerican.com

JUNE 22, 2012

Next → How to Hire for Sweat Equity…. 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). And now I’m trying to get my own team, and have them work for equity. Post navigation.

Sweat Equity 40

Sweat Equity Equity Hiring Technical Review 40

OnlyOnce

JULY 30, 2020

If you’re a founder entrepreneur who has led your company for several years, the odds are you have a significant amount of emotional investment in your company, too. You’re also creating some chaos and uncertainty for all your employees. One of the most important questions you can ask yourself is, “Am I ready to let go?”

Cap Table 48

Cap Table Institutional Investors Startup Early Stage 48

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

Cheered on by finance professors, Wall Street analysts, investors and hedge funds, companies have learned how to make metrics like Internal Rate of Return look great by one; outsourcing everything, two, getting assets off their balance sheet, and three only investing in things that pay off fast. We legalized robbing the corporate treasury.

Private Equity 326

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 326