SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

I've talked about this topic before in How Investors Think About Valuation of Pre-Revenue Startups. Wilson Sonsini and DFJ Gotham Ventures : The Option Pool Shuffle : Title Range (%) CEO 5 – 10 COO 2 – 5 VP 1 – 2 Independent Board Member 1 Director 0.4 – 1.25 Manager or Junior Engineer 0.2 – 0.33

Early Stage 391

Early Stage Equity CTO Hire Sweat Equity 391

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2010

How much dilution should I take for it?&# My friend’s company was pre-revenue. It meant that the management teams hadn’t figured out a product / market fit for their own businesses. If they raise a bunch of capital little ole you isn’t going to be around to have your option pool topped up.

Merger 276

Merger Technical Review Early Stage Dilution 276

Pascal's View

JULY 9, 2017

In these cases the caps can easily diverge from the true number at which a company could raise sufficient equity to provide at least 18 months of runway with no revenue (a normal VC round).

Post-Money Valuation 49

Post-Money Valuation Valuation Cap Table Covenant 49

Austin Startup

JANUARY 25, 2020

The manager of the promotion knew me from having worked on another promotion at the previous year’s SXSW festival for State Farm, and she liked my work. I talked to the manager about this problem and called it off. How did I get the gig? That was when I decided I had to make a change, sadly?—?I

Delaware 62

Delaware SEC New York City New York 62

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 4, 2009

If you’re thinking about joining as the director of marketing, product management manager, senior architect, international business development lead, etc. Or you have to hit the lottery and be an early player middle management player at Google, Facebook, MySpace or Twitter. Let’s face it. It was 1999.

Stock Options 418

Stock Options Stock Liquidation Preference Option Pool 418

Hunter Walker

MAY 7, 2014

Pitch decks usually have a set of expected milestones – features, number of customers, city launches, revenue run rate, etc – that this funding round is intended to accomplish over an estimated time frame. A bloated org full of fancy titles and layers of management? That’s not healthy for a startup.

Hiring 108

Hiring Option Pool Early Stage Term Sheet 108

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Good investors use the valuation discussions to gauge the business savvy of the management team and to understand their ability to appreciate and deal with economic market forces that set values.   For individual angels and others investing their own money, this may be more fluid than for someone with responsibility for a managed fund.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68