Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2018

Plan to deliver a family of products, rather than a one-trick pony. Even a great initial product, with no follow-on, won’t keep you ahead of competitors very long. A smarter risk is to build a plan, with associated greater resources, that will put you in position to expand your product line and keep one step ahead of competitors.

Forecast 161

Forecast Stock Options Technical Review Metrics 161

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2018

He gives a wealth of practical advice on building a successful technical startup, including some specifics that I like on what constitutes a dream team of partners: The technical guru. 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

You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. The rest can come from early hires (with stock options to assure commitment), equity investors, or even strategic partners. Outsourcing your core competency does not work.

Technical Cofounder 245

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Startup 245

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. Every startup should have at least a couple of outside advisors who are not major investors or family members, anxious to talk to new investors and key new hires.

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Burn Rate Technical Review Intellectual Property 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

Plan to deliver a family of products, rather than a one-trick pony. Even a great initial product, with no follow-on, won’t keep you ahead of competitors very long. A smarter risk is to build a plan, with associated greater resources, that will put you in position to expand your product line and keep one step ahead of competitors.

Forecast 120

Forecast Startup Stock Options Technical Review 120

Up and Running

DECEMBER 1, 2015

If you’re giving a large percentage of your company to someone (and yes, two percent is large), you’re entering into a contract that’s really a whole lot like marriage in that it creates a long-term relationship between you and the employee or partner. Make sure you understand all of your options before making any decisions.

Equity 60

Equity Employee Stock Options Vesting 60

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. Every startup should have at least a couple of outside advisors who are not major investors or family members, anxious to talk to new investors and key new hires.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Due Diligence Sweat Equity Burn Rate 120

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? Focus on the partner you would be working with. Here’s a hack for you.

Southern California 318

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

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

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2015

You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. The rest can come from early hires (with stock options to assure commitment), equity investors, or even strategic partners. Outsourcing your core competency does not work.

Technical Cofounder 120

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Stock Options 120

Up and Running

JULY 2, 2014

Picking the right attorney in your startup is as important as picking the right business partner. My business partner and I made many mistakes in our first tech startup, and so many of them were the result of choosing a lawyer who was a terrible fit. My business partner and I were elated.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Angel Investor Due Diligence Dilution 118

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

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. The story continued to take unexpected twists and turns the next day after the Greylock partner meeting. Then other partners like James Slavet supported the idea, thinking it was actually pretty interesting. Everyone has couches, and now you can rent them.” You should go do that.”

Hosting 69

Hosting Hockey Stick IPO Silicon Valley 69

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. If the best client success person is in Oklahoma instead of LA, we’re going to hire her, (in fact, we did). Hire versatile players and lean into your team The SVB collapse reminded us that staffing matters.

Early Stage 110

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 110

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. These people sit around thinking "lofty thoughts about markets, products, the competition, and the like. Its neat and egalitarian.

Software Review 48

Software Review Stock Options Salary Technical Review 48

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

MARCH 6, 2012

Stock options, if you get them, won’t help you pay the mortgage for a least a couple of years, and the value then is totally unpredictable. One family partner works for a startup, and the other sticks with a large enterprise company like Intel, HP, Apple, IBM, or Fujitsu. Make sure you believe in the product and the people.

Silicon Valley 246

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Startup Stock Options 246

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

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2011

Stock options, if you get them, won’t help you pay the mortgage for a least a couple of years, and the value then is totally unpredictable. One family partner works for a startup, and the other sticks with a large enterprise company like Intel, HP, Apple, IBM, or Fujitsu. Make sure you believe in the product and the people.

Silicon Valley 227

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Startup Stock Options 227

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

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 I advise my clients that you offer stock only after youve searched your heart and soul and cant come up with a way to pay with anything else," says Thomas H.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

Eric Friedman

JUNE 11, 2019

Whether a fundraising event, hiring, or sales/partnership opportunity- these can be especially useful to make all parties move faster. Exclusivity – This can be great if you have another partner, or frame things in a way that could leave them out. In the end, time will kill all deals.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Stock Options Early Stage Agile 68

Austin Startup

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

In other cases, they may come from your channel partners or elsewhere. A strong advisor can walk you in the door to the same number of companies as 2–3 new sales hires. As founders, your job includes selling product to customers, stock to investors, and opportunity to employees. Never discount the power of a warm intro.

Advisory Board 48

Advisory Board Sweat Equity Marketing Vertical 48

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2010

My original post was directed at hiring managers. It said that I didn’t believe it was a good idea to hire job hoppers. My view still stands – for many hiring managers a large factor in looking through resumes of somebody who is 30+ and has never worked somewhere for more than 18 months will be the job hopping element.

Venture Capital 285

Venture Capital Hiring Software Review Stock Options 285

OnlyOnce

DECEMBER 13, 2010

They are people who we have almost hired over the years (sometimes more than once), but never have, people who are in our industry and are friends of Return Path. Sometimes they are clients or partners, sometimes they aren’t. Sometimes they have a token stock option grant as advisors, sometimes they don’t.

Stock Options 67

Stock Options Stock Employee Hiring 67

infochachkie.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Basing a consultant’s compensation on the incremental revenue they generate is a great example of a deal that is on The Fringe (for other creative approaches to partnering, see Agreements on The Fringe). Performance-based deals can effectively mitigate your monetary risk of entering into a non-productive consulting relationship.

Equity 40

Equity Silicon Valley Cofounder Technical Review 40

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2016

The most effective and productive team members are positive, driven and want to be measured by results rather than hear work hours, perks or stock options. Teamwork inside the company and interacting with customers and partners outside the company are mandatory activities. Motivation and commitment to results.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Stock Options Salary Hiring 120

Ben's Blog

APRIL 21, 2010

So you’ve achieved product market fit and you are ready to start building the company. The board encourages you to bring in some “been there done that” executives who will provide the right financial, sales and marketing expertise to help you transition from a world-class product to a world-class business. The Bingo Boys.

Stock Options 78

Stock Options Restful Hiring Sales 78

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

Now that I’ve mapped out key first steps that need to be taken and important cultural nuances to be aware of when expanding your business into Asia , many CEOs ask me if they can actually locate their engineering and product teams here and expect the same level of quality they get in the Valley. My simple answer is: absolutely.

Silicon Valley 121

Silicon Valley Asia Engineer Stock Options 121

thestartuplawyer.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

We entrepreneurs constantly try to refine our product or model, so it is only natural to think that we should refine ourselves. Who must be a co founder and who can remain a hired principal? When I find, and hire on options, the three perfect CEs/directors must I consider them co founders and treat them accordingly?

Cofounder 40

Cofounder Founder Preferred Stock Startup 40

thinkspace.com

SEPTEMBER 7, 2012

David Crow writes in his article “ Founders versus Early Employees “, “Remember the goal is to incent early employees to have an emotional ownership of the product and company they are building. That’s where a good partner agreement comes into play. After all, I essentially created the product. Joe Stansell.

Equity 62

Equity Employee Founder CTO Hire 62

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 2, 2010

If you’re a pure startup and haven’t raised any money – you might change the life of every person you hire. I always encourage people to allocate a few extra stock options to those that join super early when your company is risky and they just believed in you. “Mark, I’m an Associate Partner.

Europe 352

Europe France San Francisco Chicago 352

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. We started with the product about three years ago, development, a year later we released it. A lot has happened since then.

Technical Cofounder 220

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Review Management 220

Ben's Blog

APRIL 28, 2010

When my partner Marc wrote his post describing our firm , the most controversial component of our investment strategy was our preference for founding CEOs. The conventional wisdom says a startup CEO should make way for a professional CEO once the company has achieved product-market fit. These innovations are product cycles.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 78

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

Then you can gradually transformyourself from a consulting company into a product company, and haveyour clients pay your development expenses. To be a startup, a company hasto be a product business, not a service business. This is a good plan for someone with kids, because it takes mostof the risk out of starting a startup.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

So for this first post, here’s the best advice I can give you: join an awesome founding team and get your product out the door ASAP. But six months in, you’re gonna cry when you see someone else put out that same product you’re pitching me right now. Like I said, forget everything else and just get your product out the door.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 84

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 15, 2012

To learn more about how your startup can find, hire and keep the top talent and quality workers it needs to succeed, download this free ReadWriteWeb Report: The Talent Wars: Today’s Toughest Startup Challenge.). Virtual Productivity Works When Recruiting. Share the Partner Feel With Equity. Susan Strayer , Exaqueo.

Developer 130

Developer Equity Ruby Cofounder 130