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Equity for Early Employees in Early Stage Startups

SoCal CTO

I was asked by a reader how much equity he should give out to early employees and to service providers in a very early stage startup. The first few people into a startup are on a spectrum of founder vs. early employee. I've talked about this topic before in How Investors Think About Valuation of Pre-Revenue Startups.

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Beware of Premature Merge Elation

Both Sides of the Table

There is a telltale sign of an inexperienced startup entrepreneur. As a startup you shouldn’t focus on buying other companies until you’ve figured out your own business. As a startup you shouldn’t focus on buying other companies until you’ve figured out your own business. Tags: Startup Advice.

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Cliff Notes S-1: Kayak ? AGILEVC

Agile VC

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. How They Make Money: Majority of Kayak’s revenue actually comes from advertising on their site (55%), not lead generation or referral fees to travel suppliers as you might think (more on this below). Financial Snapshot: 2010 Revenue: $170 million. How To Think About The Future.

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Cap Table Explained — What is it and How to Maintain it for Investors

Up and Running

Since almost all startups do not possess traditional debt lenders, the list usually consists of data of the shareholders and the percentage they own. The range of investments in a startup can vary from three to seven figures. Later, when the startup develops and becomes profitable, the value of that stock can double or triple.

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Unintended Consequences: When SAFE and Convertible Notes Go Awry

Pascal's View

There is nothing wrong with using a SAFE or a convertible note in a startup if you know its implications. The bottom line: Startup CEOs/Founders need to do the projected capitalization table math on an as-converted, post-money basis from Day 1, before issuing any notes and modeling various possible future scenarios. Sound simple?

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How to Fund a Startup

www.paulgraham.com

Want to start a startup? A typical startup goes throughseveral rounds of funding, and at each round you want to take justenough money to reach the speed where you can shift into the nextgear. Few startups get it quite right. 1 ] A startups life will be more complicated, legally, if any of theinvestors arent accredited.

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Why I left Wall Street to figure it out.

Austin Startup

Austin, TX Fast forward 4 years later, here I am working for a startup at the South By South West Tech & Music festival in Austin, TX. SXSW brings a huge chunk of the music and tech world together in one city every year in March, and most startups launch their products there every year. How did I get the gig?