Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

Clearly the founders and senior executives of a company are the most valuable resources and their time should be maximized on the most valuable tasks. For a well-funded seed company I have controversially recommended hiring a great office manager that doubles as an administrative assistant. It literally can put you out of business.

Operations 150

Operations Metrics Early Stage Non-Compete 150

Up and Running

DECEMBER 1, 2015

If however you are giving a “normal employee” an incentive stock option plan (more on that later), that’s entirely different. Make sure you understand all of your options before making any decisions. When business owners decide to go down the route of equity compensation, there are two primary options to choose between.

Equity 60

Equity Employee Stock Options Vesting 60

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

By Daniel Sokolovksy, Co-Founder and CEO, WARP and Troy Lester, Co-Founder and CRO, WARP The dissolution of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was more than just a bank collapse, it was a reality check for both startups and the VCs that fund them. As a founder, ask yourself – does your business actually warrant VC funding?

Early Stage 111

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 111

The Next Web

AUGUST 12, 2013

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Christian Reber, CEO and co-founder of Berlin-based 6Wunderkinder. I think an issue many talented entrepreneurs and European founders (especially German founders) have is, they don’t think big enough. Many founders don’t deal well with people leaving, but I am probably one of the worst.

Cofounder 119

Cofounder CTO Hire Startup Europe 119

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.&#. Mark: 10% warrant coverage is like stock options. o Everything is for sale but it’s the price that moves the timing.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Warrant Customer Term Sheet 304

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

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.” The narrative of this discussion is something like this: I meet a 35-40-year-old founder with two kids and mortgage. And there’s always a but.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Liquidation Preference Silicon Valley IP 150

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 24, 2017

Before you even get the business off the ground, it’s important to ensure that you and the co-founders (if any) agree on everything. Every startup should have a written founder agreement, which should include the following points: The roles and responsibilities of each member. How the sale of the company is decided.

LLC 168

LLC Startup Stock Options Cofounder 168

Berkonomics

JANUARY 7, 2021

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. The third group is made of the total number and types of investors, other than the founder(s). Dividing equity among those that fill the management gap.

Liquidity Event 96

Liquidity Event Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder Initial Public Offering 96

Gust

APRIL 9, 2014

The Founder of a company starts by owning all the shares representing ownership of the company. 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.). original post can be found on Quora @ [link] *.

Dilution 150

Dilution Equity Vesting Stock Options 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

Your historical trading information including financials and a “customer file” which shows the history of your transactions so that investors can run “cohort” analyses Customer reference, personal references, key team members, compensation, cap table, stock option plan, etc. and then asking to take a brochure home with you.

Cap Table 336

Cap Table Due Diligence Forecast Churn Rate 336

Gust

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

This discussion expands on my Quora answer to a specific question: “ Why were the stock options of MySpace employees worthless even though the company was sold to News Corporation for hundreds of millions? ” The complete story includes a startup-within-a-startup, investments and exits by two VC firms, and some genuine corporate drama.

Valuation 98

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Merger Vesting 98

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Sales & Marketing | Wednesdays. SALES & MARKETING. 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 The Goods: Your Business Toolbox | Thursdays. Finance | Tuesdays. Innovation | Fridays. Newsletters.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

Berkonomics

JUNE 12, 2014

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. The third group is made of the total number and types of investors, other than the founder(s).

Liquidity Event 85

Liquidity Event Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder Initial Public Offering 85

Austin Startup

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

For startup founders, it’s never too early to start thinking about putting together a target market advisory board. A strong advisor can walk you in the door to the same number of companies as 2–3 new sales hires. I think of this as an early test of the founding team’s sales ability.

Advisory Board 48

Advisory Board Sweat Equity Marketing Vertical 48

www.startupnorth.ca

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Home Events Contact Jobs StartupIndex Founders versus early employees by David Crow on September 10th, 2009 in Resources Not everyone can be a founder. We talk about the founders of startups and companies. We focus on the founders. The founders get press coverage. The founders will each take a major chunk (e.g.

Employee 41

Employee Founder Salary Equity 41

infochachkie.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

If a consultant claims they can enhance your marketing efforts, pay them based on their direct impact on your incremental sales. Such positions include: PR, Sales, Product Development, Lead Generation, Strategic Planning, Fund Raising, etc. Passion Cannot be Outsourced. Pyramid Power. The larger the firm, the larger the pyramid.

Equity 40

Equity Silicon Valley Cofounder Technical Review 40

Startup Company Lawyer

JULY 20, 2009

I am giving a presentation to some of the founders in TheFunded Founder Institute on incorporating their companies, so I thought I would recycle some thoughts.]. Founders of startup companies often wait to incorporate a company until they are confident that their concept is viable or fundable. More than one founder.

IP 67

IP Stock Options Preferred Stock Capital Gains 67

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. times more equity than Founder X. times more equity than Founder X.

Cap Table 67

Cap Table Pre-Money Valuation Option Pool Liquidation Preference 67

Berkonomics

AUGUST 27, 2015

He has served as advisor to and member of numerous financial exchanges, and was the founder and CEO of Arthur Lipper Corporation and co-founder and Chairman of New York & Foreign Securities Corporation. The Flipper’s executives usually have significant equity holdings, either actually owned or reflected in stock options.

Intellectual Property 48

Intellectual Property Balance Sheet Stock Options Valuation 48

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 23, 2023

Equity is divided between the founders and the business begun. Although this insight does not address this point of ignition, we should note in passing that things always change over time, and formerly strong founder-contributors can become a drag upon a business or lose interest if the enterprise is not quickly successful.

Equity 62

Equity Stock Options Vesting Early Stage 62

Seeing Both Sides

JULY 15, 2009

Most VCs invest in companies that need to hire additional management team members and sales and marketing and technical talent to build the business. These new hires typically receive stock options, and the issuance of those stock options dilute the other investors.

Pre-Money Valuation 49

Pre-Money Valuation Option Pool Stock Options Post-Money Valuation 49

The Next Web

JUNE 15, 2012

After all, cash may be in short supply, but there’s a virtually endless amount of work to be done, from coding and web development, to PR, sales, general operations, or sage advice from an industry veteran. Many young tech startups reserve 15%-20% for employee stock options. It’s a logical solution. Plan upfront.

Equity 116

Equity Stock Options Vesting Stock 116

www.payne.org

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

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. 3 Dilution.

Equity 56

Equity Employee Vesting Preferred Stock 56

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 28, 2017

Equity is divided between the founders and the business begun. Although this insight does not address this point of ignition, we should note in passing that things always change over time, and formerly strong founder-contributors can become a drag upon a business or lose interest if the enterprise is not quickly successful.

Early Stage 102

Early Stage Equity Stock Options Vesting 102

Ben's Blog

APRIL 28, 2010

In this post, I describe why we prefer to fund companies whose founder will run the company as its CEO. As we looked at the history of great technology companies, we discovered that founders ran an overwhelming majority of them for a very long time, including: Acer—Stan Shih. Thomas Watson, Sr. The innovation business. Moral authority.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 78

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

I think it would help founders to understand funding better—notjust the mechanics of it, but what investors are thinking. And if trouble withinvestors is one of the biggest threats to a startup, managing themis one of the most important skills founders need to learn. Few startups get it quite right. Many are underfunded.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 7, 2016

When investors interrogate founders, these interrogatives arise, but with a twist: Adding the word “why” in front of each. A good answer is previous experience in the industry, including easy sales contacts and insight into the language, life, and challenges of that industry (although this is also a trap ). When → Why now?

San Francisco 170

San Francisco Startup Framework Azure 170

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 11, 2014

Listen to this episode if you want to hear about a founder who has a product and users and paying customers … and is trying to figure out how to take his company to the next level and grow faster. And I really believe I can do, on the sales part, so much more if I have additional people. I first did it for the founder.

Technical Cofounder 220

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Review Management 220

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 16, 2012

For example, if you work for an ecommerce startup in a sales/business development role and are doing deals that bring in money for the company, you are probably in Bucket Y. What about company stock options? 1% of the company in stock options doesn’t mean anything unless you know what the valuation of the company is!

Stock Options 141

Stock Options Startup Stock Salary 141

Berkonomics

MAY 12, 2010

Equity is divided between the founders and the business begun. Although this insight does not address this point of ignition, we should note in passing that things always change over time, and formerly strong founder-contributors can become a drag upon a business or loose interest if the enterprise is not quickly successful.

Early Stage 85

Early Stage Equity Stock Options Vesting 85

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JUNE 27, 2011

ME: Sure, but maybe that competitor would further validate and grow the market, which could increase your sales and make you even more attractive to a buyer! Here’s why: The acquirer knows that you, the founder, are looking for financial freedom. Tony Wright (founder of RescueTime) has a great article about it here.

Sales 235

Sales Term Sheet Stock Deal Structure 235

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

One of the things I do as a founder of a later stage startup is to meet with early stage entrepreneurs to help them get their companies going. Inevitably, the excuses begin: I need to hire people to build the product. Then, forget everything else, VCs included, and just build. I don’t know any developers. I need money for the servers.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 84

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

Similarly, government purchasing is a frustrating series of hoops, even compared to enterprise sales. Sarbanes Oxley has made it impossible to go public reducing financial capital for start-ups and the FASB rules on stock options have made it harder to attract human capital to start-ups.

DC 90

DC Washington San Francisco SBIR 90

Hunter Walker

MAY 1, 2016

That wasn’t the case when I met with Greg Hong and Joe Marchese, the co-founders of Reserve. AJ: I oversee the business side of Reserve: sales, account management, customer service, analytics, growth, marketing, and strategy. As a hiring manager, what do you look for in new grads? AJ: Startups hire just in time.

New York City 48

New York City New York Los Angeles Startup 48

Hunter Walker

MAY 1, 2016

That wasn’t the case when I met with Greg Hong and Joe Marchese, the co-founders of Reserve. AJ: I oversee the business side of Reserve: sales, account management, customer service, analytics, growth, marketing, and strategy. As a hiring manager, what do you look for in new grads? AJ: Startups hire just in time.

New York City 48

New York City New York Los Angeles Startup 48

Startup Company Lawyer

MAY 1, 2009

Data is analyzed by: founder/non-founder status, company revenue and headcount, geography, business segment, and number of financing rounds raised. For example, below are the 2008 results for average equity granted at time of hire in IT companies: CEO 5.40%. Head of Sales 1.20%. Tags: Stock options.

Stock Options 31

Stock Options CTO Hire Equity 31

Austin Startup

SEPTEMBER 9, 2018

This is called a “helper’s high” by my good friend and CEO coach, Kirk Dando (you can read more about Kirk and the value of CEO coaches in my Lucky7 post about the 7 lessons learned on the journey from founder to CEO ). Then instead of being a low-level sale, we now had high-level adoption to help drive adoption of our solutions.

Advisory Board 48

Advisory Board Balance Sheet Stock Options Email 48