Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 1, 2018

Formal option plans for some. Some companies, especially those financed by angel or VC investors, have good, formal stock option plans with properly priced options set to reward all employees and managers in the event of a corporate sale. Each was surprised, pleased and effusive. Consider the kinds of exits.

Stock Options 192

Stock Options Stock Distribution Programming 192

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 2, 2011

As Finance Fridays continues, we are introducing the concept of the Cap Table. As first time entrepreneurs they did not create an employee options pool; we’ll fix that in a little while. They come up with two options: Hire Praveena as an employee and offer her stock options.

Cap Table 133

Cap Table CTO Hire Technical Cofounder Cofounder 133

Up and Running

DECEMBER 16, 2021

Some reasons why include needing a more detailed picture of your company’s value, submitting taxes, outlining employee stock option plans, or presenting to investors or creditors. To explain further, let’s take a look at this list of the most profitable industries (according to a recent writeup from Yahoo Finance ). .

Valuation 86

Valuation .Net Metrics Balance Sheet 86

VC Adventure

AUGUST 15, 2018

It was and is imprecise science but – at least in the case of venture backed startups – there wasn’t much harm in an option being priced low. These reports are generally quite lengthy and not always particularly comprehensible to non-finance professionals. I was wrong.

Valuation 48

Valuation Common Stock Cap Table Software Review 48

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

A great finance leader is on top of your numbers with such precision that you don’t have to worry about it. But a great finance leader isn’t just budgeting but he or she is an consummate planning and they won’t take s**t from you about why you need to avoid hiring more staff until you close new contracts or raise money.

Operations 150

Operations Metrics Early Stage Non-Compete 150

Up and Running

JANUARY 4, 2017

Employee taxes. Hiring the right employees. However, you might not have the finances to attract the types of quality personnel that you want. This is why it’s important to find employees with potential. See Also: How to Hire Your First Employee. See Also: 73 Questions to Ask Employees During an Interview.

Small Business 122

Small Business Social Media Stock Options Employee 122

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? Stock Option plans.

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet 417

Up and Running

JULY 2, 2014

At this point in our startup’s saga, a mentor suggested we hire another attorney—someone with experience in technology startups that raise multiple rounds of financing and desire founder exits within five to seven years. Have they worked with companies who have raised multiple rounds of financing to start or grow?

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Angel Investor Due Diligence Dilution 118

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

There are startups out there that are valued at a billion dollars, but because of employee salaries, assets, etc. Now we’re no longer spending employee manpower on a service that wasn’t helping accelerate the right type of growth we need. they still aren’t profitable. Have you ever walked into a traditional freight brokerage before?

Early Stage 112

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 112

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 11, 2015

But it’s an important consideration, especially for companies that plan to offer alternative compensation such as employee stock options, which will usually require a 409A valuation. Startup companies are often cash poor and have little in the form of current monetary compensation to offer their employees.

Valuation 100

Valuation Stock Options CPA Merger 100

The Next Web

AUGUST 12, 2013

Define how you want to motivate your employees every day to produce high-quality and industry-leading results. I started my company with 5 friends – one developer, one user interface designer, one visual designer, one marketing person, and a finance person. A business/finance person. agreeing to the wrong investment terms).

Cofounder 119

Cofounder CTO Hire Startup Europe 119

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

For the time being, you’ll spend 40–50% less on renting a home or office and 20–30% less on employee salaries, while not giving up that much in terms of the startup ecosystem. If you’ve just exited or realised stock options from a Silicon Valley success story, moving out of state is worthwhile. However, prices are rocketing.

Early Stage 48

Early Stage Austin Silicon Valley Texas 48

Startup Company Lawyer

MARCH 12, 2009

C corps, LLCs, and S corps differ significantly in the areas of taxation, ownership, fundraising, governance and structure, and employee compensation. Any company that raises venture financing will need to be a C corp in order to issue preferred stock. Employee Compensation. such as incentive stock options.

LLC 61

LLC Stock Options Preferred Stock Stock 61

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

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2019

Here are some observations I have from this exposure: If a company moves from strength-to-strength with predictable outcomes, easy financings, low staff turn-over, limited competitive threats then the composition of the board probably doesn’t matter as much.

LP 269

LP Startup Burn Rate Stock Options 269

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 20, 2016

The foundation of your financial success, it allows you to forecast the income of purchased assets such as employees, benefits, or company stock options. Think of your finances as an equation: gross income – taxes – all essential expenses – entertainment expenses = discretionary income.

Balance Sheet 189

Balance Sheet Stock Options .Net Stock 189

Gust

JULY 18, 2012

Yet I’ve rarely seen entrepreneurs more fired up than when recounting war stories of startups whose founders had control of the company wrested from them, were forced to take financing or compensation deals on outrageously onerous terms , or worst of all, fired from their own companies.

Stock Options 188

Stock Options SEC Stock Government 188

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

Equally, it could be that as a mid-level employee you prefer to see the company try to get to a $1 billion exit where you could make substantial money but the CEO sells early because she is sitting on 10x the equity as you and can earn well on a $50 million exit. There is often money to be made in finding places with under-valued IP.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Liquidation Preference Silicon Valley IP 150

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 6, 2016

There are many legal steps to follow while financing your business. Whatever you choose, use tax-deferred growth in accounts to create wealth to finance the capital fund for your venture. Add employee stock options if you have exercised any. Which Finance Technique to Utilize?

LLC 100

LLC Stock Options Finance Salary 100

ithacaVC

SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

For example, let’s say Exec X is asking for 10% of the fully diluted cap table via a stock grant or option grant that is non-dilutable. He is asking for 10% because he is joining as a high level officer like CEO or COO and he is a very early employee. Those additional grants would prevent Exec X from being diluted.

Dilution 53

Dilution Employee Cap Table Stock 53

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

Let’s start with a short definition: [the creator economy] is defined as the class of businesses built by over 50 million independent content creators, curators, and community builders including social media influencers, bloggers, and videographers, plus the software and finance tools designed to help them with growth and monetization.

Startup 207

Startup Social Media Venture Capital Audio 207

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

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? Stock Option plans. Last year ….

Liquidation Preference 153

Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet Stock 153

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2010

Often when startups who have raised venture capital need another round of financing they will turn to their existing investors to give them money before raising from outsiders. a loan) that is later converted to equity at the time of the next financing. It starts as a debt instrument (e.g.

Startup 290

Startup Burn Rate Warrant Bankruptcy 290

www.payne.org

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Startup Equity For Employees. 2 Stock Classes: Common and Preferred. 5 Stock vs Options. 6 Founders / Restricted Stock. The re-heating of the venture funded tech market has pushed a heat up of the hiring market, and Im getting more calls from friends asking for help understanding startup stock (equity) offers.

Equity 56

Equity Employee Vesting Preferred Stock 56

Gust

DECEMBER 8, 2011

Determine the allocation of equity among co-founders, early employees or other service providers, and future contributors as applicable, as well as the vesting schedule , if any, that will apply. Offer letters for employees. Pick a name for the new legal entity (e.g., Newco, Inc.”) Independent contractor or consulting agreements.

Intellectual Property 139

Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement Delaware Stock 139

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

ithacaVC

JUNE 20, 2011

2. You need (or think you need) a stock option plan: granting stock options (and other forms of equity compensation to employees like restricted stock) should be done under a written equity incentive plan. and (v) how to properly fire employees. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Stock Options 58

Stock Options Vesting Subscription Agreement Founder Vesting 58

Growthink Blog

JULY 2, 2010

It helps with recruiting top management talent, particularly since the value of/likelihood of exercising employee stock options appears greater. Tags: Dave Lavinsky Financing. The huge negatives of going public however were the massive amount of time required to do the pre-IPO roadshow and the $1.8 pretty exciting stuff.

Venture Capital 85

Venture Capital Stock Options New York Angel Investor 85

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. after the financing closes). This will obviously change their relative ownership.

Cap Table 67

Cap Table Pre-Money Valuation Option Pool Liquidation Preference 67

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

BeyondVC

SEPTEMBER 14, 2004

Typically, in the context of these department-level updates, discussion will ensue on milestone progress, roadblocks or hurdles to realizing the goals, resource constraints, performance of various employees, and any potential addition or subtraction to the list of goals.

Balance Sheet 99

Balance Sheet Technical Review Framework Stock Options 99

Startup Company Lawyer

JULY 20, 2009

Once again, please keep in mind that the documents from typical online incorporation services do not contain IP assignment provisions in connection with the purchase of founders stock or separate IP assignment documents. Hiring employees or third party contractors. Issuing stock options.

IP 67

IP Stock Options Preferred Stock Capital Gains 67

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

I’ll focus for now on the business itself, there’s plenty of other info on the web if you care to understand the equity ownership or financing history of Facebook and frankly this has been fairly well known for awhile. ==. Here’s my first look at Facebook viewed through the lens of their IPO filing. Facebook, Inc.

IPO 100

IPO South Korea Venezuela Revenue 100

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

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

And as the company grows, it brings on new people and may decide to issue stock options to attract new staff and funding from investors. Total share ownership is the sum of the common stock, stock options, preferred stock, and any other stock category for a single individual. Total share ownership.

Cap Table 112

Cap Table Pre-Money Valuation Stock Options Option Pool 112