Up and Running

MARCH 7, 2018

In my time, I learned a thing or two about the importance of preventing employee turnover. Aside from the time-consuming tasks of screening potential employees, interviewing, and re-hiring , losing and replacing employees is expensive. On average, it costs nearly three times an employee’s salary to replace them.

Employee 91

Employee Startup Salary Hiring 91

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 2, 2011

This week they set out to create their cap table and hire a CTO. 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

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 10, 2022

I was shocked to read an old Gallup study that indicates only 13 percent of employees worldwide are actively engaged at work, and more recent data shows only a small change in the right direction. Investors have long agreed that you invest in the team, more than the product. Good hiring, training, and mentoring are the best motivators.

Stock Options 362

Stock Options Salary Leadership Stock 362

Women Entrepreneurs Can

FEBRUARY 8, 2023

Invest in Financial Products Investing in financial products such as stocks, cryptocurrencies , bonds, commodities, and mutual funds can provide a steady stream of income while also offering the potential for significant returns. Be sure to conduct extensive research before committing to any financial product.

Artificial Inteligence 52

Artificial Inteligence Guerilla Technical Review Stock Options 52

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2015

If the company has been around for more than a couple of years, and still has no product or revenue flow, there better be a good explanation. One more key employee or one more investor will probably not turn the situation around. Calculate employee stock option values and vesting times, as well as salary.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Due Diligence Sweat Equity Burn Rate 120

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2016

If the company has been around for more than a couple of years, and still has no product or revenue flow, there better be a good explanation. One more key employee or one more investor will probably not turn the situation around. Calculate employee stock option values and vesting times, as well as salary.

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Burn Rate Technical Review Intellectual Property 120

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 22, 2010

I never hire job hoppers. They make terrible employees. Why do job hoppers make such bad employees at startups? -. You have tough choices to make about whom you hire on your team. Google offers your product for free. And he has already vested 75% of his stock options at your company.

Hiring 392

Hiring Employee Vesting Silicon Valley 392

Up and Running

JANUARY 4, 2017

Employee taxes. This could look like changing the amount of ownership you’re willing to give to your investors, or establishing a way to deliver a faster return on their investment by increasing production, upping your products price point, or investing in a better sales team. Hiring the right employees.

Small Business 122

Small Business Social Media Stock Options Employee 122

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

For a well-funded seed company I have controversially recommended hiring a great office manager that doubles as an administrative assistant. I can’t tell you how many people have thanked me for this advice and say their productivity increased exponentially. This is all about “leverage” which is the key to success.

Operations 150

Operations Metrics Early Stage Non-Compete 150

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 21, 2021

Should be overwhelm prospective employees with stock options and perks? Well, here are rules to make money work for you in recruiting AND to better control its use after you’ve hired your candidate(s). But more difficult is the sticky issue of employee incentive compensation. Some obvious qualifiers.

Employee 62

Employee Stock Options Salary Stock 62

crowdSPRING Blog

OCTOBER 10, 2014

10 Massively Successful Minimum Viable Products – crowdspring.co/1mVcFD5. “the people you fire are more important to your [company''s] culture than the people you hire.” “the people you fire are more important to your [company''s] culture than the people you hire.” ” – crowdspring.co/1slKVZ2.

Social Media 97

Social Media Small Business Design Media 97

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

It was a stock option incentive related “expense” but I bet you didn’t know that because in an era where we only read the headlines — they must be a train wreck losing billions. If you don’t have a strong balance sheet and can’t hire more people that’s fine — but understand this may lead to slower growth. Two-f **g-billion!

Stock Options 227

Stock Options Startup Dilution Venture Capital 227

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

Your contractor wrote a great V1 of the product and it helped you get angel funding. Forget to get around to setting up that Employee Stock Option Plan and want to be able to give the early guys their options at a low strike price? Your memory – they never worked very hard and didn’t want to commit.

Southern California 318

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

Ben's Blog

OCTOBER 6, 2011

Interestingly, one of the first things that you learn when you run an engineering organization is that a good Quality Assurance organization cannot build a high quality product, but it can tell you when the development team builds a low quality product. The Employee Lifecycle. From hire to retire, how good is your company?

Management 78

Management Development Team Review Stock Options Technical Review 78

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

Be honest with yourself VCs are now going to be looking closer at margins, cost structures and true sales, and product market fit. There are startups out there that are valued at a billion dollars, but because of employee salaries, assets, etc. As a founder, ask yourself – does your business actually warrant VC funding?

Early Stage 109

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 109

prosperati.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Hiring Of all the issues we ran into when we first built our team, hiring was the most critical. So when you first start building your team, the most important hire should be your lead architect. The cliches of hiring the best of the best is as true in Malaysia as it is in the US. Culture creation is not easy.

Offshore 40

Offshore Malaysia Developer Stock Options 40

The Next Web

AUGUST 12, 2013

Define how you want to motivate your employees every day to produce high-quality and industry-leading results. At 6Wunderkinder, our motivation is a combination of passion for what we’re doing (creating the best productivity software in the world) as well as our strong and endless will to build up an impressive team and business.

Cofounder 119

Cofounder CTO Hire Startup Europe 119

www.drowningamerican.com

JUNE 22, 2012

Next → How we Hire for Sweat Equity (Part 2)… Posted on April 7, 2011 by Travis Biziorek. The first time we hired partners for Kibin was way back in late 2009. I’ve heard people say it’s impossible to hire good developers right now. I want to hire before I have the ability to pay anyone.

Sweat Equity 40

Sweat Equity Equity Hiring Technical Review 40

Reid Hoffman

DECEMBER 10, 2020

Couchsurfing is a bad product experience. I believe Airbnb is going to be a different kind of company, with a different kind of product and service, that will become a different kind of platform for launching businesses that go well beyond replacing hotel rooms. Everyone has couches, and now you can rent them.” You should go do that.”

Hosting 69

Hosting Hockey Stick IPO Silicon Valley 69

Up and Running

JULY 2, 2014

We had personally invested $70,000 of our own money at this point, and we were hoping to raise at least another $250,000 to help us hire a team, launch our company, and begin to build our product. We had a beta product launched, 20 beta testers, and lots of interest from different investor groups. Our attorney should have known.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Angel Investor Due Diligence Dilution 118

www.joelonsoftware.com

MARCH 24, 2010

When we decide to hire someone, the interviewers who were involved in the "hire" decision will sit down with the candidates resume and salary history and figure out what level they will start at. Our biannual reviews are done internally by management; they are not intended as a way to give employees grades or gold stars.

Software Review 48

Software Review Stock Options Salary Technical Review 48

Hunter Walker

JUNE 7, 2022

When I left in 2003 we agreed that my final title could be focused on Product and Marketing, since that’s what I was interested in pursuing next. Extend Your Stock Option Exercise Period. Obviously this can be a bit tricky but in small companies when you have kind founders and you’ve been a great team member, it’s ok to ask.

Stock Options 94

Stock Options Vesting Stock Valuation 94

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

Potential investors (and people who know them) get to see that others are excited about the product too, and it reinforces their own positive feelings. Few people want to be “the first” or “the only” investor in your product. Mostly what they will be buying into is their feeling about the entrepreneur and her passion for the product.

Angel Investor 159

Angel Investor Technical Review Software Review Accredited Investor 159

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 16, 2013

If you really want to impress a startup founder as a potential employee, or you want to be a smart investor, you need to know the right questions to ask. You need to know this as a future employee, since it probably gates how long your new job will last. How much “skin” is already in the game? How solid is the intellectual property?

Due Diligence 253

Due Diligence Sweat Equity Intellectual Property Burn Rate 253

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

There is such a thing as a “diamond in the rough” and let’s face it – if the company was totally rocking would they be hiring you? But if you’re the Director or Product or VP of Marketing – you don’t get to make that decision. the standard 4-6% for a hired-gun CEO).

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Liquidation Preference Silicon Valley IP 150

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 20, 2016

Finally, we hired a consultant to keep us on track toward our goal. Be it a business, a rebrand, or a product launch, it’s easy to get stuck on one idea, one avenue, or one snag, especially if you’re young and attached to your vision. Are you currently targeting a specific number of employees to hire to keep up with company growth?

Balance Sheet 189

Balance Sheet Stock Options .Net Stock 189

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2016

I was shocked to read an old Gallup study that indicates only 13 percent of employees worldwide are actively engaged at work, and more recent data shows only a small change in the right direction. Investors have long agreed that you invest in the team, more than the product. Good hiring, training, and mentoring are the best motivators.

Startup 147

Startup Stock Options Salary Stock 147

Hearpreneur

DECEMBER 31, 2017

I have spent a great deal of time studying the fundamentals of stocks, option trades, goal-setting, and public speaking. I’ve got to trust the team I’ve hired to do their job, so I can do the things that only I can do and not get caught up in minutiae. All my studying and hard work has resulted in a breakthrough.

Entrepreneur 65

Entrepreneur Stock Options Programming Washington 65

Up and Running

OCTOBER 13, 2022

Employee retention, for both startups and established businesses, is more important than ever. More and more employees are leaving roles to join companies that offer greater flexibility, increased benefits, higher pay, or even a more mission-driven culture. Federal income tax-free earnings until employees take distributions.

Vesting 88

Vesting Stock Valuation Stock Options 88

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2012

If you really want to impress a startup founder as a potential employee, or you want to be a smart investor, you need to know the right questions to ask. You need to know this as a future employee, since it probably gates how long your new job will last. How much “skin” is already in the game? How solid is the intellectual property?

Due Diligence 244

Due Diligence Sweat Equity Burn Rate Intellectual Property 244

ReadWriteStart

FEBRUARY 13, 2020

To date, some 1,000 technology companies have hired 4,000 workers through the program. Most of the time, employees in these satellite locations are paid at a discount of what their peers make at HQ. Imported talent — along with the STEM graduates that stay in-country, are often recruited by major international companies.

Canada 127

Canada Government Venture Capital Early Stage 127

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 2, 2014

Many startups these days are started by young, technical or product founders who are in the idealistic phase of their lives and careers. It’s why I wrote a post outlining why the job of a CEO is often “chief psychologist” – especially if the company grows beyond 20 employees. Foursquare?

Startup 385

Startup Stock Options Cofounder Campaign 385

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

9 months seems like a lifetime but given how long it will take to ship your V1 product (5 months) and how long it will take to raise your next round (3-4 months) there isn’t a lot of room for error. How can you show “traction” on a product that just launched? They want the end product. Are tacking.

Startup 417

Startup Dilution San Diego Stock Options 417

Gust

DECEMBER 8, 2013

If you really want to impress a startup founder as a potential employee, or you want to be a smart investor, you need to know the right questions to ask. You need to know this as a future employee, since it probably gates how long your new job will last. Image via LeadChangeGroup.com. How much “skin” is already in the game?

Due Diligence 174

Due Diligence Sweat Equity Intellectual Property Burn Rate 174

Transformify

DECEMBER 6, 2021

You need the right WFM software, from model management and operations to tracking your employees’ leave. If you’re struggling to keep up, you likely need the best workforce management software to help improve your team’s productivity. What Is Workforce Management Software? Oracle Cloud HCM. Transformify.

Software Review 52

Software Review Software Employee Management 52

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

Scalable Startup

AUGUST 9, 2018

They need the money to rent offices, hire staff, and establish their initial presence (website, incorporation, marketing). Option One: Before you launch?—?when when you are just starting, probably no product or service yet. Option Two: Once your product or service is up and running and gaining traction.

Technical Cofounder 20

Technical Cofounder Silicon Valley Early Stage Cofounder 20