Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 11, 2021

Here are five of the most common examples: Failure to document a Founder agreement at the beginning. This oversight can lead to the so-called “forgotten Founder” problem. Later, when your venture is trying to close on financing, or even going public, that forgotten partner surfaces, demanding their original share.

Cost 363

Cost Non-Compete Accredited Investor Cofounder 363

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. To be clear, these are hires we are talking about, not co-founders. And the fourth bracket are employees who are not in key functions.

Equity 64

Equity Employee CTO Hire Fractional CTO 64

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. It would be helpful to get a California standard employee manual, employee contract/agreements, IP ownership release to company, and confidentiality.

Finance 40

Finance Term Sheet Vesting LLC 40

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

Altgate

JUNE 25, 2012

—————– Dead equity — equity held by employees and founders no longer working at the company — is a large and growing problem. Imagine how much tougher a dead-equity dilemma becomes when co-founders, who tend to hold large equity stakes, are involved. Noam Wasserman on Inc.

Equity 44

Equity Vesting Cap Table Technical Review 44

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

Why do these founders get to stay around? Because the balance of power has dramatically shifted from investors to founders. VCs competing for unicorn investments have given founders control of the board. A pre-IPO board usually had two founders, two VCs and one “independent” member. Technology Cycles Measured in Years.

Founder 245

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 245

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 24, 2014

When Google went public in August of 2004 one of the first things I did with my employee grants was sell enough to pay off my student loans. The vast majority of my future savings was (a) not vested yet and (b) tied to hope for future stock grants I’d earn. Did I work any less hard the next day because of my liquidity event?

Founder 109

Founder San Francisco Liquidity Event LP 109

www.mattbartus.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Perspectives on issues affecting founders, startups and investors from a veteran startup lawyer in Silicon Valley. We will grant him/her X% fully diluted shares up front, and every time he/she makes an introduction, he/she will vest in 100 shares.” The most you lose is 1 or 2 months of vesting on the stock. Quora Answers.

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. Imagine how much tougher a dead-equity dilemma becomes when co-founders, who tend to hold large equity stakes, are involved. Noam Wasserman on Inc.

Equity 28

Equity Vesting Cap Table Technical Review 28

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2013

Here are five of the most common examples: Failure to document a Founder agreement at the beginning. This oversight can lead to the so-called “forgotten Founder” problem. Later, when your venture is trying to close on financing, or even going public, that forgotten partner surfaces, demanding their original share.

Non-Compete 235

Non-Compete Accredited Investor Startup Cofounder 235

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Finance | Tuesdays. Financing a Small Business. Financing A Small Business. Personal Finance. Employee Benefits. Back in 1997, Randy Parker was staring at a blank whiteboard, wondering where hed find the money to hire the employees and consultants he needed to build his new product. "We Start-up | Mondays.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 10, 2012

Here are five of the most common examples: Failure to document a Founder agreement at the beginning. This oversight can lead to the so-called “forgotten founder” problem. Later, when your venture is trying to close on financing, or even going public, that forgotten partner surfaces, demanding their original share.

Non-Compete 249

Non-Compete Accredited Investor Cofounder Startup 249

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

It’s like we need a finance 101 course for entrepreneurs. In finance they call it “terminal value” but the truth is the price is as arbitrary at your A round as it is at your seed round. Less than you’ll probably grant your most junior employees in stock options? There were no metrics. Him: Not so good.

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet 417

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 2, 2011

Here are five of the most common examples: Failure to document a founder agreement at the beginning. This oversight can lead to the so-called “forgotten founder” problem. Early co-founders often drop out of the picture due to disagreements, and you forget about them, but they don’t forget about the verbal promises you made.

Non-Compete 246

Non-Compete Accredited Investor Entrepreneur Cofounder 246

K9 Ventures

NOVEMBER 21, 2011

Let’s say you’re the founder (I use a solo-founder in my example to keep things simple, but this could just as well apply to a founding team) of a startup called Blood, Sweat and Tears, Inc. The objective is really to be able to get some risk off the table for the founders and not leave all their eggs in one basket.

Founder 87

Founder Common Stock Preferred Stock Stock 87

K9 Ventures

NOVEMBER 21, 2011

Let’s say you’re the founder (I use a solo-founder in my example to keep things simple, but this could just as well apply to a founding team) of a startup called Blood, Sweat and Tears, Inc. The objective is really to be able to get some risk off the table for the founders and not leave all their eggs in one basket.

Founder 84

Founder Common Stock Preferred Stock Stock 84

www.payne.org

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Startup Equity For Employees. 4 Vesting. 6 Founders / Restricted Stock. UPDATE: If youre a founder or near-founder, your equity terms are likely defined by the funding terms negotiated with the investors. Vesting is usually linear: 25% vested after 1 year, 50% after two, 75% after three, etc.

Equity 56

Equity Employee Vesting Preferred Stock 56

Austin Startup

AUGUST 20, 2017

Startups often hand out shares, options, and warrants for employees and for contractors rendering needed services. Set any vesting schedules and expiration dates on roughly similar terms, if for no other reason just so you can track all of them correctly. Kalanick, former investor BFF turned highly disappointed by founder behavior.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Cap Table Securities and Exchange Commission 48

Gust

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Entrepreneurs and investors who have spent any time dealing with convertible debt seed financing transactions are likely to have encountered the subject of valuation caps. The cap is irrelevant if the next equity financing is at a valuation below the cap amount.)

Valuation 98

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Merger Vesting 98

blog.simeonov.com

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

Simeon, can you tell us how you structure ownership and control so you can fire your co-founders if necessary? The first part will dispel some myths, address the lifecycle of founder agreements and the key compensation and control parameters in them. Let’s start by dispelling some myths: There is a standard founder agreement.

Founder 44

Founder Vesting Agile Startup 44

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

For angel groups, the distinction between groups and VCs on this issue is dwindling, especially as angel groups do bigger rounds of financing.   Note that this applies only to earl stage Series A-type equity financings and assumes no cash dividends are paid to investors.   First , dividends.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

Gust

DECEMBER 8, 2011

Likewise, founders can benefit from understanding basic characteristics of the overall legal structure, formation and governance documents, rights and responsibilities of team members, etc. Determine who will serve on the Board of Directors and in executive officer positions (usually founders). Offer letters for employees.

Intellectual Property 139

Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement Delaware Stock 139

Gust

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

It’s like we need a finance 101 course for entrepreneurs. In finance they call it “terminal value” but the truth is the price is as arbitrary at your A round as it is at your seed round. Less than you’ll probably grant your most junior employees in stock options? of the time I have no vested interest in having the debate.

Liquidation Preference 153

Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet Stock 153

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 19, 2010

Here are some examples: Failure to document a founder agreement at the beginning. This shortcut can lead to the so-called “forgotten founder” problem. Early co-founders often drop out of the picture due to disagreements, and you forget about them, but they don’t forget about the verbal promises you made.

Non-Compete 125

Non-Compete Accredited Investor Startup Cofounder 125

techcrunch.com

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

As Mark Suster recently noted , employees will never see a big payday at most startups unless the company shoots for the moon. The elephant in the room is that that founders and CEOs take almost all of it for themselves. The two founders own 33%, and split $12 million. The remaining 95 employees split 7%, each earning $27,000.

Liquidation Preference 63

Liquidation Preference Founder Option Pool Acquisition 63

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 17, 2009

The meme was kicked off by Chris Dixon with this post saying that term sheets need to be simplified and align investor / founder interests. I had multiple term sheets to do my Series A financing. One very important item from Chris’s original post that wasn’t picked up by Fred or Brad is founder vesting.

Founder Vesting 252

Founder Vesting Vesting Founder Term Sheet 252

ithacaVC

DECEMBER 13, 2013

They are typically pretty simple: (i) shares owned by founders and (ii) shares authorized for issuance in a stock option pool, some of which may be issued to employees already and some of which will be available for future issuance. If no additional equity is ever granted to Founder X and Founder Y, then Founder Y will ALWAYS own 1.63

Cap Table 67

Cap Table Pre-Money Valuation Option Pool Liquidation Preference 67

The Next Web

OCTOBER 7, 2013

They were referring to non-founder engineers, most commonly the first hire for technology businesses. is frequently granted ownership significantly less than that of the founders. However, at the very early stage, they are taking as much risk with their future as the founders. Engineer #1?

Engineer 129

Engineer Dilution Option Pool Vesting 129

ithacaVC

JUNE 20, 2011

Setting up a legal entity that will have multiple owners from inception (like 2 or more founders) requires good lawyer input. Lawyer time required (including vesting agreements for founders): 3 to 6 hours. And each award to a given employee requires a separate grant agreement laying out the terms of the grant.

Stock Options 58

Stock Options Vesting Subscription Agreement Founder Vesting 58

www.quora.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Type to Add and Search Questions; Search Topics and People Startups Startup Compensation Entrepreneurship Compensation Stock Options Major Internet Companies Silicon Valley Why is there such a large founder to early employee equity drop-off? Visibility at a Series D-funded company is much different than that at a seed-funded one.

Equity 40

Equity Employee Founder Cofounder 40

dondodge.typepad.com

JANUARY 15, 2011

Community is more powerful than money or technology » August 11, 2007 How much equity for investors and employees? How much equity should I grant to early employees? It isnt always possible to have a competitive bidding situation at each financing round so here are some guidelines for funding sources and percentages.

Equity 40

Equity Employee Dilution Valuation 40

The Next Web

JUNE 15, 2012

From Silicon Valley to Peoria, Illinois, cash-strapped startups look for inventive way to finance their business – often handing out equity to employees, consultants, vendors, and other service providers. However, if you are thinking about compensating non-employees with equity, make sure to consider the following points: 1.

Equity 116

Equity Stock Options Vesting Stock 116

thebarefootvc

MAY 13, 2015

After taking an economics class in college which sparked my interest in business, I changed my focus to a dual degree in finance and communications, with the goal of combining capitalism with media to make an impact on the world. The hidden cost of this (and employee burnout) is one that any investor is all too familiar with.

Silicon Valley 40

Silicon Valley Tanzania New Jersey United States 40

thebarefootvc

MAY 13, 2015

After taking an economics class in college which sparked my interest in business, I changed my focus to a dual degree in finance and communications, with the goal of combining capitalism with media to make an impact on the world. The hidden cost of this (and employee burnout) is one that any investor is all too familiar with.

Silicon Valley 40

Silicon Valley Tanzania New Jersey United States 40

venturehacks.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

SUPPORTED BY Products Archives @venturehacks Books AngelList About RSS How to pick a co-founder by Naval Ravikant on November 12th, 2009 Update : Also see our 40-minute interview on this topic. Picking a co-founder is your most important decision. One founder companies can work, against the odds (hello, Mark Zuckerberg).

Cofounder 101

Cofounder Founder Technical Cofounder Technical Review 101

K9 Ventures

JULY 22, 2009

This has several advantages: 1) If you are going to be bringing on co-founders or employees, the fact that the company has already been incorporated, and is official, can have an impact on how the equity split gets portioned out. 5) Incorporating forces you to start maintaining the books (or so I hope!)

Due Diligence 48

Due Diligence Vesting Valuation Cofounder 48

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Point Nine Capital uses 15Five for continuous employee feedback. Tim Friedman, Founder, PE Stack , said, “If I could offer one piece of advice to today’s managers, it would be to take the time to understand the demands of the modern institutional LP. 3) Raise capital. They read reviews of the products of target investments.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78