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. Pitfalls in sharing equity. While equity can be a great tool for compensating early on, the drawbacks are significant.

Equity 116

Equity Stock Options Vesting Stock 116

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2018

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. Outsourcing your core competency does not work.

Technical Cofounder 144

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Startup 144

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2014

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. Outsourcing your core competency does not work.

Technical Cofounder 245

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Startup 245

Up and Running

OCTOBER 19, 2021

As a startup looking to hire your dream team, this news can be exciting. A recent report from CB Insights found that 14% of startups fail because they didn’t have the right team. If you’re ready to recruit your startup dream team, here’s how to do it. 4 qualities to look for in a good startup employee.

Startup 127

Startup Salary Stock Options Employee 127

thinkspace.com

SEPTEMBER 7, 2012

How to Divide Equity to Startup Founders, Advisors, and Employees. The part that I’d like to zero in on is when you’ve got a high growth company what are some of the best practices out there to distribute equity to the founders, advisors, and employees? Equity for Founders. Equity for Employees.

Equity 62

Equity Employee Founder CTO Hire 62

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2016

Every startup founder loves to prompt for questions from investors and potential key team members about their vision, and the huge opportunity that can be had with their disruptive technology. Early stage burn rates over $50K per month, or a runway of less than six months may indicate an inefficient or desperate startup.

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Burn Rate Technical Review Intellectual Property 120

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2015

Every startup founder loves to prompt for questions from investors and potential key team members about their vision, and the huge opportunity that can be had with their disruptive technology. Early stage burn rates over $50K per month, or a runway of less than six months may indicate an inefficient or desperate startup.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Due Diligence Sweat Equity Burn Rate 120

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

I recently sat down with Matt Coffin , the founder of LowerMyBills, which sold for $400 million but was very nearly a bankruptcy only a few years early, and talked “startups.&#. Matt is one of the most transparent, focused & honest startup guys you’ll meet. Mark: 10% warrant coverage is like stock options.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Warrant Customer Term Sheet 304

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

If you’re a startup and you don’t have a close relationship with a few law firms you’re really missing one of the most important relationships that any entrepreneur can have. I write about some of the lessons in my post on Startup Mistakes. I know that people have an allergy to lawyers out of fear of being screwed.

Southern California 318

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

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

View from Seed

AUGUST 6, 2015

When someone goes to work for an early startup, the compensation package general includes an annual salary, health insurance, and, instead of fixed-cost performance upside, a percentage of unvested options to purchase equity in the company. What’s the strike price ($ value per) of the options I’m being granted?

Equity 120

Equity Employee Cap Table Stock Options 120

View from Seed

AUGUST 6, 2015

When someone goes to work for an early startup, the compensation package general includes an annual salary, health insurance, and, instead of fixed-cost performance upside, a percentage of unvested options to purchase equity in the company. What’s the strike price ($ value per) of the options I’m being granted?

Equity 120

Equity Employee Cap Table Stock Options 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2015

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. Outsourcing your core competency does not work.

Technical Cofounder 120

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Stock Options 120

Gust

APRIL 9, 2014

Equity dilution works when the same pie is divided among more people. Over time, other people receive pieces of equity in exchange for work (employee stock options), money (seed, angel and venture investors), services (attorneys, directors, etc.). Uncategorized company equity dilution founder investors startup'

Dilution 150

Dilution Equity Vesting Stock Options 150

David Teten

AUGUST 1, 2019

Negotiating Employment with a Private Equity Firm – 7 Surprises to Expect. Joining An Early Stage Startup? Negotiate Your Equity And Salary With Stock Option Counsel Tips. Here’s How Startup Founders Should Offer Employee Equity. How to assign stock options in early-stage startups.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Equity Due Diligence Portfolio 60

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Advisor. ); STARTUP. Should You Share Equity with Consultants? 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 But sharing equity can have pitfalls, too. Sales & Marketing | Wednesdays.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

According to the Angel Capital Association: Angels (private money) invest in 55,000 startups each year versus 1,500 companies by VC (venture capital) funding. ” Yes, the JOBS Act (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) is exciting, and it will bring a lot more potential investors into the marketplace. Stock Option.

Angel Investor 159

Angel Investor Technical Review Software Review Accredited Investor 159

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. The use of a cap table for a company comes into play when it has to track the total amount of shares, the value of shares, and the equity ownership of all the shareholders.

Cap Table 112

Cap Table Pre-Money Valuation Stock Options Option Pool 112

prosperati.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Prosperati HOME BLOG ABOUT CONTACT Blog Can A Startup Do OffShore Development? Part 2 Posted 07.15.2009 in Blog In my previous article ( Can a Startup Do OffShore Development? Hiring Of all the issues we ran into when we first built our team, hiring was the most critical. Now on to more operational considerations.

Offshore 40

Offshore Malaysia Developer Stock Options 40

VC Adventure

AUGUST 15, 2018

Most boards did some level of work to determine the FMV of a company’s stock but generally options were priced between 10% and 15% of a company’s then preferred price (because common equity sits behind preferred equity there is typically a discount applied to the FMV of common stock to account for this “overhang”).

Valuation 48

Valuation Common Stock Cap Table Software Review 48

The Next Web

AUGUST 12, 2013

It’s unrelated to the startup world, but I can highly recommend to watch “ Being Liverpool ”. But that’s the case for only tiny amount of startups. Startups fail. They should be able to hire great designers to help build a better product. It’s fun, and well, you are incredibly excited. It’s normal. Learn to deal with it.

Cofounder 119

Cofounder CTO Hire Startup Europe 119

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

But not everybody has the right skills to build a highly successful and valuable startup from scratch. For some aspiring to be tech entrepreneurs, I often suggest a two-step process, as I argued in this post that “ The First Startup Founder You Need to Invest in Is You.” In fact, I would argue that most people don’t.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Liquidation Preference Silicon Valley IP 150

chrischandler.name

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

If you’ve considered finding and asking a developer for his or her time in exchange for sweat equity, I’m going to strongly advise you against it. All the engineers I trust to execute a project swiftly, professionally and with quality, especially under startup conditions, will not touch an upfront equity deal with a 10-foot pole.

Equity 40

Equity Developer Entrepreneur Syndicate 40

The Startup Magazine

DECEMBER 17, 2023

Consider also offering performance bonuses, stock options, or profit-sharing plans as additional incentives. Encourage diversity in hiring practices and create an inclusive environment where all employees feel valued and respected regardless of their background.

Employee 105

Employee Stock Options Programming Equity 105

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? Many startups these days are first-time entrepreneurs. is lowered.

Equity 40

Equity Employee Founder Cofounder 40

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. If the runway is less than six months, with no new source signed, both you and the startup are at risk. How much “skin” is already in the game? What’s in this deal for me?

Due Diligence 244

Due Diligence Sweat Equity Burn Rate Intellectual Property 244

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 10, 2019

Negotiating Employment with a Private Equity Firm – 7 Surprises to Expect. Joining An Early Stage Startup? Negotiate Your Equity And Salary With Stock Option Counsel Tips. Here’s How Startup Founders Should Offer Employee Equity. How to assign stock options in early-stage startups.

Due Diligence 60

Due Diligence Stock Options Covenant Private Equity 60

Berkonomics

JANUARY 7, 2021

Think of startups and early stage businesses whose entrepreneurs you know. Few entrepreneurs can do it alone, with subordinate hired help and no expert management to share the burdens, skill sets, and efforts involved in growing the enterprise. Dividing equity among those that fill the management gap. Two: Co-management.

Liquidity Event 96

Liquidity Event Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder Initial Public Offering 96

Startup Company Lawyer

MAY 1, 2009

CompStudy publishes an annual report of equity and cash compensation that provides compensation data on top management positions and Boards of Directors at private companies in technology and life sciences. For example, below are the 2008 results for average equity granted at time of hire in IT companies: CEO 5.40%.

Stock Options 31

Stock Options CTO Hire Equity 31

Scott Edward Walker

NOVEMBER 2, 2011

I’ve been a corporate lawyer for 17+ years, and there are certain fundamental legal mistakes that I’ve seen startups repeatedly make. Accordingly, I thought it would be helpful to provide a simple checklist for startups , which includes links to prior posts for a more detailed discussion.

Accredited Investor 111

Accredited Investor Stock Options Delaware Silicon Valley 111

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. If the runway is less than six months, with no new source signed, both you and the startup are at risk. How much “skin” is already in the game? What’s in this deal for me?

Due Diligence 253

Due Diligence Sweat Equity Intellectual Property Burn Rate 253

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 20, 2010

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. If the runway is less than six months, with no new source signed, both you and the startup are at risk. How much "skin” is already in the game? What's in this deal for me?

Due Diligence 229

Due Diligence Sweat Equity Intellectual Property Startup 229

Scalable Startup

AUGUST 9, 2018

I get approached often by tech startups looking for their first outside funding. This article is based on my experiences and the typical mistakes I see every week in startup land. High growth startup companies need seed money to get things going. Without funding most tech startups will die. Option Two: Post-Launch?—?Raise

Technical Cofounder 20

Technical Cofounder Silicon Valley Early Stage Cofounder 20

www.payne.org

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Startup Equity For Employees. 2 Stock Classes: Common and Preferred. 5 Stock vs Options. 6 Founders / Restricted Stock. 7 Salary vs Equity. Important disclaimer: Ive got experience negotiating stock compensation packages from both sides of the table. Stock Classes: Common and Preferred.

Equity 56

Equity Employee Vesting Preferred Stock 56

Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 28, 2011

This post doesn’t going into general tactical approaches of job offer negotiation, but rather focuses on the fact that with startups a significant part of compensation is related to equity or options. So optimizing a startup offer involves not just one key figure – salary – but also the option package.

Startup 121

Startup Equity Vesting Salary 121

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 16, 2012

When interviewing for a job at a startup, you might focus on the questions you will be asked by the interviewer, but there are also a series of questions you need to ask yourself. This article provides a series of information startup job candidates should consider and answers to commonly asked questions. What are your short term goals?

Stock Options 141

Stock Options Startup Stock Salary 141

ithacaVC

SEPTEMBER 17, 2015

I often get questions about startup job offers. But if you are title “crazed” in your startup job search, I think you are misguided. Said another way, if I were interviewing you for a job at a startup and you were title crazed I would never hire you. This is my personal view and others definitely disagree.

Startup 40

Startup Stock Options Vesting Equity 40