Berkonomics

APRIL 4, 2024

As soon as any outside money is ingested into the corporation, others have a vested and legal interest in the behavior of officers entrusted with the best use of funds. Start-ups with one founder rarely have or need a board of directors. In fact, such a board would seem out of place in a one-person company.

Covenant 48

Covenant Software Review Stock Options Vesting 48

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

You should avoid spending your time here and instead focus on finding a way to generate revenue or to attract investors so that you can afford to hire someone. What sweat equity is not good for is for people who you don’t know at all. How To Get There

Technical Cofounder 241

Technical Cofounder CTO Hire Equity Sweat Equity 241

Up and Running

JUNE 7, 2021

Staunch in his belief in paying workers a respectable wage and in hiring women, people of color, and individuals with disabilities for high-paying jobs when doing so was not an accepted practice, he virtually created the American middle class. The history of social responsibility in business. Begin with leadership.

Framework 191

Framework United States Employee Vesting 191

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

For this article, we asked 14 SaaS CEOs a simple question: “How much did you spend on your MVP before you had your first dollar of revenue?”. The MVP took around four months to build, during which time the company earned no revenue. is a SaaS tool that companies can use to assess engineers before they hire them. Image source).

Sweat Equity 50

Sweat Equity Software Review Vesting Cofounder 50

Steve Blank

MAY 19, 2015

I had lunch last week with Tom, the CEO of a startup that was quickly becoming a large company – last year’s revenue was $40M, this year likely to be $80M maybe even $100 million in ad revenue. to drive traffic to their site, which they then turned into ad revenue. Refactoring” organizational debt. the company had.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Salary Early Stage Software Review 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. 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

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

Duct Tape Marketing

OCTOBER 8, 2023

Benefits of Hiring a Fractional CMO If you’re a business owner, the thought of hiring a full-time Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) may have crossed your mind. Cost-Effectiveness of Hiring A Fractional CMO The cost difference between hiring a full-time and fractional CMO is staggering.

Technical Review 73

Technical Review Retention Networking Leadership 73

Scott Edward Walker

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

(And please don’t tell us to hire a lawyer.) Vesting Restrictions. The first deadly mistake relates to vesting restrictions. Answer Below are four mistakes that could destroy your venture down the road if not handled properly today. IP Ownership.

Vesting 89

Vesting Software Review IP Intellectual Property 89

NZ Entrepreneur

SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

Addressing real world problems, they thrive in uncertainty, generating new jobs and new revenue streams in new markets. experiments to build a product, find customers, test business models and hire amazing people. This equity will vest over 2-3 years. Underpinning this growth is good governance. Risk and reward. Compliance.

Technical Review 90

Technical Review Software Review New Zealand Due Diligence 90

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2016

My internal compass says that “country-club” entrepreneurs struggle to make as big of an impact because it’s really hard to totally change a system that you’re part of and have a vested interest in. Or some teams who start driving revenue paper over the fact that they aren’t acquiring customers profitably.

Churn Rate 150

Churn Rate Vesting Dilution Europe 150

Transformify

DECEMBER 22, 2019

It gets even worse if the first version of their product is not good enough to generate revenues. Ironically, it’s the tool that can boost revenues and buy time till the next funding round. Our user base comprises of job seekers looking for all types of jobs and companies looking to hire. Know your userbase.

Affiliate 91

Affiliate Revenue Churn Rate Programming 91

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

And even this can’t stop their employees from fleeing after two years of vesting to move on to the next hot startup. Hire fewer employees until you’re bursting at the seems with work for the ones you have. They’re doing how much in SaaS revenue? For investors life is no different. You own how much?”

Software Review 150

Software Review Turkey Portfolio Syndicate 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 22, 2010

I never hire job hoppers. You have tough choices to make about whom you hire on your team. Your revenues are “just around the corner.&# Your angel investors are nervous because the VCs aren’t moving that fast to fund your next round. And he has already vested 75% of his stock options at your company.

Hiring 392

Hiring Employee Vesting Silicon Valley 392

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

NOVEMBER 25, 2016

Examples: how a market will evolve, what competitors are investing in, whether new marketing campaigns will be successful, or how an important new hire will perform. Suppose we’re hiring a high-level, experienced position, like a VP of Marketing. If any are impossible for you to ameliorate, it’s a no-hire.

Differentiation 120

Differentiation Framework Restful Software Review 120

Hearpreneur

NOVEMBER 19, 2021

While patterned after compression vests (which can only be worn for 20 minutes before losing its effectiveness), Jettproof's line of singlets, shorts, shirts, blankets, and many others can be worn or used the whole day. We had a billion-dollar project go haywire because of hiring processes. I promised I would help her find a job.

Entrepreneur 145

Entrepreneur Software Review LLC Web Development 145

David Teten

OCTOBER 1, 2015

I’ve talked with a number of software development shops who are eager to get into the business of cofounding companies, i.e., getting product revenue and equity instead of just consulting revenue. Vesting equity equally divided into set milestones, in this case: 5% vest after design phase. 5% vest at clickable prototype.

Software Developers 60

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Technical Cofounder 60

www.avc.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

The most common comment in this long and complicated MBA Mondays series on Employee Equity is the question of how much equity should you grant when you make a hire. For your first key hires, three, five, maybe as much as ten, you will probably not be able to use any kind of formula. First, a caveat.

Equity 64

Equity Employee CTO Hire Fractional CTO 64

Steve Blank

JULY 19, 2010

As a founder I fought with VC’s over vesting as they brought in a new CEO and walked me out the door. As a board member I negotiated with founding CEO’s over vesting when I thought it was their time to go. Yet the traditional vesting model ignores this. It’s time to rethink how we vest stock for founding CEOs.

Vesting 261

Vesting Liquidity Event Venture Capital Founder Vesting 261

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 12, 2018

Hire A PR Agency. As a small business, you may not have enough newsworthy moments to hire a full time PR agent for your business. Hiring an agency that aligns with your business culture and values is extremely important. It is a good idea to instead outsource this component of marketing to an external agency. Build A Media List.

PR 133

PR Public Relations Vesting Database 133

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 13, 2010

As soon as any outside money is ingested into the corporation, others have a vested and legal interest in the behavior of officers entrusted with the best use of funds. Start-ups with one founder rarely have or need a board of directors. In fact, such a board would seem out of place in a one person company. Email readers continue here.]

Covenant 59

Covenant Software Review Stock Options Vesting 59

Steve Blank

JUNE 15, 2010

Will they tailor your vesting to your contribution as a founder? They understand that now’s not the time to hire a senior VP of Sales to start to scale the sales force or to look for a finance department to create income statements that say zero each month. Will The VC Tailor Your Vesting to Your Contribution?

Founder 232

Founder Vesting Later Stage Early Stage 232

Austin Startup

AUGUST 20, 2017

Hiring is a chapter unto itself, but it deserves to lead off any discussion of context. Compensation decisions obviously affect hiring and retention. You can’t be too careful in determining comp packages for your new hires. I am very surprised when that cool thing actually meets a customer need or drives revenue.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Cap Table Securities and Exchange Commission 48

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

Your highest priority right now is hiring the 1 or 2 people that are going to join your company and make a difference. A key deal not only helps you raise venture capital but it can help attract employees, garner press attention, help with product focus & importantly drive customer adoption and/or revenue.

Seattle 317

Seattle Silicon Valley Technical Review Los Angeles 317

The Startup Toolkit

JANUARY 10, 2017

A friend had an amicable breakup with a cofounder who wanted to leave and gave him a full extra year of vested equity as a token of goodwill for all his hard work. Say you have a 50/50 cofounder on standard 4 year vesting who does an amazing job helping you get v1 of the product out, and then colossally screws you at the end of year 2.

Cofounder 20

Cofounder Technical Review Vesting Ratchet 20

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

There never has to be atime when you have no revenues. For example, a seed firmshould be able to give advice about how to approach VCs, which VCsobviously dont need to do; whereas VCs should be able to giveadvice about how to hire an "executive team," which is not an issuein the seed stage. So theyre going to raise $200,000.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

www.chubbybrain.com

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

spent $20 million to get back to the same revenue that I had when I was CEO. created a vastly higher cost structure; I had 80 people mostly on base salaries under $100,000 and was bringing in revenue at the rate of $20 million annually. .”). Post-Mortem Title : My eHarmony for Hiring Failure. Go vest yourself.

Software Review 79

Software Review Startup Technical Review Vesting 79

Up and Running

JANUARY 5, 2021

You have a vested interest in making sure it works. It forces you to consolidate it into a business identity while considering the market you’re entering, potential competitors, and what expenses, revenue streams, and milestones you need to hit. Sorry, but you definitely have to pay taxes and report your revenue to the IRS.

Lean 146

Lean CPA Vesting Naming 146

Scott Edward Walker

NOVEMBER 2, 2011

Set-up vesting schedules for the founders (see post here ) and file 83(b) elections with the IRS (see #3 here ). If you hire any employees, make sure you don’t misclassify them as an independent contractor or fail to pay them at least the minimum wage (see post here ). Button-down IP ownership and assignment issues (see post here ).

Accredited Investor 111

Accredited Investor Stock Options Delaware Silicon Valley 111

Transformify

MAY 10, 2023

Misclassification has negative consequences for both employees and companies: Fines : Governments are increasingly cracking down on misclassification to recover lost tax revenue. Misclassification allows companies to avoid paying these taxes, resulting in a loss of tax revenue for the government.

United States 52

United States Government California Vesting 52

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Some notable metrics are revenue growth rates, free cashflow, leverage ratios, historical financing amounts, returns on marketing spend, customer acquisition costs, lifetime value of customers, customer churn rates, and team social scores. Lighter Capital, a Revenue Based Investing VC, offers a Cost of Capital Calculator.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Ben's Blog

APRIL 28, 2010

Salmon points out that “not a single one of the 12 [candidates] is a CEO who was hired to run a company by its board of directors.”. This knowledge becomes the foundation on top of which a gigantic knowledge pyramid gets built which includes: Knowledge of every employee who gets hired and why. If you do, hire him!

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 78

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

A detailed financial model that shows your anticipated revenue, costs and profits (Income Statement) as well as your balance sheet and cashflow statements. VCs (and LPs) have a vested interest in having more data, whether they want to invest in your company / firm or not. They aren’t doing this viciously?—?they

Cap Table 336

Cap Table Due Diligence Forecast Churn Rate 336

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

This can be helpful when you are hiring a COO for the company, and the candidate asks to get percentage ownership in the company. It is attractive for seed-stage companies that have not had time to show much traction in terms of their product or revenue. Add pre-money valuation & calculation for it.

Cap Table 112

Cap Table Pre-Money Valuation Stock Options Option Pool 112

Gust

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

There were two distinct classes of employee equity (issued by Intermix and MySpace, respectively) with different valuation and vesting situations—and, most significantly, a $125 million valuation cap applied to the buyout of MySpace equity that was triggered by the acquisition of Intermix. Read on for a fuller explanation. of MySpace, Inc.

Valuation 98

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Merger Vesting 98

Scott Edward Walker

OCTOBER 27, 2015

Set-up vesting schedules for the founders (see post here ) and file 83(b) elections with the IRS (see #3 here ). If you hire any employees, make sure you don’t misclassify them as an independent contractor or fail to pay them at least the minimum wage (see post here ). Button-down IP ownership and assignment issues (see post here ).

Intellectual Property 40

Intellectual Property Accredited Investor Vesting Delaware 40

discuss.joelonsoftware.com

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

Im confident that this business will be able to compensate these two additional principles along the way, after initial risk of investing their time, and will later reward their vesting with an exit strategy. This isnt really a start-up team-- Ive been doing the business for 14 years. The key here is motivation.

Sweat Equity 40

Sweat Equity Equity Angel Investor Affiliate 40