Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

Many employees forget that there isn’t even a market for stock, until after the company has gone public, which hasn’t happened positively to many companies in the last few years. Thus, stock doesn’t “pay the mortgage” today, so to speak. Your compensation is the total package of stock plus salary plus benefits.

Stock Options 230

Stock Options Stock Advisory Board Startup 230

Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2019

For most startup employee’s startup stock options are now a bad deal. Why Startups Offer Stock Options. In tech startups stock options were here almost from the beginning, first offered to the founders in 1957 at Fairchild Semiconductor , the first chip startup in Silicon Valley. Not everyone got the same amount of stock.

Stock Options 333

Stock Options Stock Vesting Common Stock 333

Women Entrepreneurs Can

MAY 27, 2021

The startup capital necessary to open a restaurant is also quite hefty, thanks to all the kitchen equipment, stock, and staff salaries you’ll need to cover. The eCommerce industry has seen a massive spike in its sales from the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Software Development.

Software Developers 52

Software Developers Software Development eCommerce Startup 52

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

Many employees forget that there isn’t even a market for startup stock, until after the company has gone public, which hasn’t happened positively to many companies in the last few years. CEO brought in to replace the founder, 5 - 10% CTO, CFO, VP of Marketing or Sales, 1.5 - 3% Chief Engineer or Architect, 1 - 1.5%

Equity 237

Equity Stock Options Advisory Board Stock 237

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 29, 2015

Many employees forget that there isn’t even a market for startup stock, until after the company has gone public, which hasn’t happened positively to many companies in the last few years. CEO brought in to replace the founder, 5 - 10% CTO, CFO, VP of Marketing or Sales, 1.5 - 3% Chief Engineer or Architect, 1 - 1.5% It’s a huge gamble.

Stock Options 120

Stock Options Stock Advisory Board Startup 120

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

The most obvious way to explain this is with sales people. If you hire 6 sales reps in January at $120,000 / year salary then you’ve taken on an extra $60,000 per month in costs yet these sales people might not close new business for 4-6 months. I always remind this to journalists who ask me about public stocks.

Startup 418

Startup Revenue Technical Review Flash 418

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 28, 2022

Yet even a non-profit has to make a profit on everything it sells, in order to cover operating expenses (salaries, offices, equipment, research, travel, etc.), Even then, the business and leadership efforts to solicit and manage donations cost real money, and may be more difficult than the marketing and sales jobs of most startups.

Distribution 250

Distribution Africa United States Salary 250

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

Options are gravy - I lived through the first dot com era where we used stock options as a recruiting tool. If Ventro was worth $8 billion on $2 million of sales surely a paltry $1 billion would suffice. We give out stock options. But I thought I should do a quick post on the topic. I think they believed it, too.

Stock Options 294

Stock Options Stock Valuation Liquidation Preference 294

Up and Running

DECEMBER 1, 2015

At the time, Facebook wasn’t the goliath it is today and so, Choe was given a couple of options: he could have $60,000 in cash, or stock (equal to the equivalent amount of the cash back then). If however you are giving a “normal employee” an incentive stock option plan (more on that later), that’s entirely different.

Equity 60

Equity Employee Stock Options Vesting 60

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 29, 2018

Similarly, if you are underspending against your budget, is it because your sales are lower than expected, and if so why? It’s entirely possible that you should be spending more, i.e. buying more stock so that you never run out and lose sales as a consequence. Get planning. Monitor your purchase costs.

Technical Review 100

Technical Review .Net Warrant Cost 100

Hunter Walker

MAY 13, 2023

Sometimes you’d even get lucky and receive stock in the acquirer, which was how I gained pre-IPO equity in high growth stars like Pinterest and Facebook. In fact, sometimes acquirers are asking for the remaining cash on hand from the startup in order to ‘zero out’ the salary burden they’re taking on [HW note: 99.9%

Early Stage 117

Early Stage Cap Table Acquisition Sales 117

Steve Blank

MARCH 17, 2020

To answer the first question, take stock of your current gross burn rate i.e. how much cash are you spending each month. And how much are variable expenses (salaries, consultants, commission, travel, AWS/Azure charges, supplies, etc.?). If you are selling to businesses (a B-to-B market) have your customers’ sales dropped?

Burn Rate 436

Burn Rate Startup Valuation Sales Cycle 436

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

” It was meant both as a call to those writing angel checks into other people’s companies that they ought to think about putting that capital toward themselves either by becoming a startup founder or (and this was my real point) by taking an under-market salary in a company where they can learn the right skills to do it in the future.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Liquidation Preference Silicon Valley IP 150

VC Cafe

JANUARY 15, 2021

He earns over $4 million a year in ad sales by playing video games and narrating along with the action, and over 107 million subscribers watch. According to the EY study, YouTuber Felix Kjellberg, better known as PewDiePie, is one of the biggest hits. PewDiePie dropped out of college and sold hot dogs to finance his game playing.

Social Media 99

Social Media Media Technical Review Stock 99

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2010

Many employees forget that there isn’t even a market for stock, until after the company has gone public, which hasn’t happened to many companies in the last few years. Thus, stock doesn’t “pay the mortgage” today, so to speak. Offers near the high end of a range will come with a lower cash salary, maybe even 50% of the going rate.

Stock 144

Stock Stock Options Advisory Board Startup 144

Board Effect

NOVEMBER 22, 2019

Gifts of stock are considered a donation of property. In this case, the nonprofit should send the donor an acknowledgment letter that describes the stock and notes that no goods or services were provided in exchange for the gift. The acknowledgment letter shouldn’t place a monetary value on the shares.

Government 59

Government Software Review Stock Retention 59

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

DECEMBER 21, 2009

What one thing is most responsible for preventing sales? people not knowing you exist, pricing, not enough product features, unorganized sales strategy, look-and-feel of website, haven't identified pain points,). What's one thing you could do to get more feedback from customers, potential customers, or sales you've lost?

Startup 315

Startup Revenue Cofounder Sales 315

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 19, 2022

After having to reduce and rethink our strategy during COVID, we observed that our community and sales have skyrocketed. When the pandemic struck, it diminished the purchasing power of our original customer base, resulting in a drop in our monthly sales. Thanks to Adam Garcia, The Stock Dork ! #10- Photo Credit: Gavin Johnson.

Entrepreneur 114

Entrepreneur Metrics Technical Review North America 114

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 9, 2012

Those companies don’t have the overhead of staffing retail stores and often aren’t subject to the same sales taxes as brick-and-mortar stores. Yes, you’re familiar with the price/demand curve — as prices go down, sales go up; as prices go up, sales go down. Wholesale is the cost of the merchandise, not the cost of the sale.

Sales 171

Sales .Net Cost Advertising 171

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 25, 2011

First off, I couldn't actually afford to go anywhere on a startup salary. Use CrunchConnect to record the sales calls and business development of your whole team, so that you can highlight best practices and spot trouble areas. Most startups don't do nearly enough sales training, and even less review once someone is onboarded.

Technical Review 114

Technical Review Software Review PR Cofounder 114

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2019

Yet even a non-profit has to make a profit on everything it sells, in order to cover operating expenses (salaries, offices, equipment, research, travel, etc.), Even then, the business and leadership efforts to solicit and manage donations cost real money, and may be more difficult than the marketing and sales jobs of most startups.

Distribution 187

Distribution Africa United States Salary 187

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 14, 2019

If you need any money from this account, let it be in the form of a salary. Add also your deposited funds to the conventional stock balance. If you have valuable commercial interests, you could quickly get enough funds from their sale to set up your business. Asset selling.

Balance Sheet 132

Balance Sheet Limited Liability Company Bootstrapping Startup 132

Berkonomics

APRIL 16, 2020

Raising money during this crisis will be almost impossible, even from friends and family shocked by the stock market declines. Stocks will climb again. Plan for reductions in fixed overhead, salaries, and other costs now. Everything will recover. COVID will become a word used in the past tense.

SBA 87

SBA Burn Rate Salary Stock 87

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. The most obvious way to explain this is with sales people. COGS” represents the amount that each sale costs you. Two-f **g-billion! What a disaster!

Stock Options 227

Stock Options Startup Dilution Venture Capital 227

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

It freed up Ophir to grow out our sales organization, to work more closely with agencies, to innovate on product and to raise capital. The last thing you want the CEO (or heads of sales, marketing, product) doing is sinking 3 days every month into preparing board packs. Here’s the dilemma. You created the damn product!

Operations 150

Operations Metrics Early Stage Non-Compete 150

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

DECEMBER 12, 2011

stock, performance bonuses) are preferred to guaranteed earnings (e.g. salary, benefits). Remember, tech support is sales ! You’re not hiring a Systems Engineer III for IBM or a Senior Regional Sales Manager for Dell. Potential earnings (e.g. But normal people do have a choice and most people abhor chaos.

Hiring 282

Hiring Employee Ruby Java 282

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

Each employee must follow the regulations you set forth and yet use their own initiative when necessary to facilitate sales. You should not only analyze sales figures that your company has achieved in the past but how these numbers will serve your business dealings in the future. Sales quotas and employee productivity.

Stock 113

Stock Audio Salary Sales 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2011

Many employees forget that there isn’t even a market for stock, until after the company has gone public, which hasn’t happened to many companies in the last few years. Thus, stock doesn’t “pay the mortgage” today, so to speak. Offers near the high end of a range will come with a lower cash salary, maybe even 50% of the going rate.

Equity 234

Equity Advisory Board Stock Options Stock 234

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 28, 2009

Our sales forecasts were revised downward – many times. Join because you’ll make a good not great salary. We do hand out stock options. Our customers were generally happy but they were pushing us hard for promised features. Our business development discussions took longer than planned. But still we made progress.

PR 331

PR Software Review Ireland Germany 331

Gust

JUNE 7, 2014

Every investment round in a company is made on the basis of extensivepaperwork (often upwards of 100 pages in total) specifying *precisely* what happens when it comes time to pay out the proceeds (if any) from the sale or dissolution of the company. So, here is the typical payout order, from first to last: 1) Salaries owed to employees.

Warrant 157

Warrant Preferred Stock Early Stage Common Stock 157

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 24, 2017

Salaries of each member, and how salaries can be adjusted. How the sale of the company is decided. Stock Option documentation. Every startup should have a written founder agreement, which should include the following points: The roles and responsibilities of each member. The percentage of the company owned by each member.

LLC 145

LLC Startup Stock Options Cofounder 145

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 21, 2021

Should be overwhelm prospective employees with stock options and perks? Salaries or hourly wages must be within reasonable limits set by the industry and matched by the competition, both regionally and for the same job classification. Or concentrate our available resources on just plain money as an attraction? Some obvious qualifiers.

Employee 62

Employee Stock Options Salary Stock 62

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. There are startups out there that are valued at a billion dollars, but because of employee salaries, assets, etc. As CRO, Lester is responsible for sales, client success and marketing at WARP.

Early Stage 118

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 118

View from Seed

AUGUST 6, 2015

When someone goes to work for a larger corporation or public company, the compensation package generally includes an annual salary, a performance bonus or commission plan, 401(k), and health insurance. To the uninformed, 25,000 shares or 150,000 shares or even 5,000 shares can seem like a lot when your only reference is the stock market.

Equity 120

Equity Employee Cap Table Stock Options 120

View from Seed

AUGUST 6, 2015

When someone goes to work for a larger corporation or public company, the compensation package generally includes an annual salary, a performance bonus or commission plan, 401(k), and health insurance. To the uninformed, 25,000 shares or 150,000 shares or even 5,000 shares can seem like a lot when your only reference is the stock market.

Equity 120

Equity Employee Cap Table Stock Options 120

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 5, 2009

I had last been in Chapel Hill on a winter’s day in 1986, traveling with the VP of Sales of our new supercomputer startup, Ardent. My ex-boss was going to be the VP of Engineering and I would report to the CEO whose marketing acumen and sales instincts seemed at the time to be telepathic and sense of theater was legend.

North Carolina 125

North Carolina Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 125

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2017

Yet even a non-profit has to make a profit on everything it sells, in order to cover operating expenses (salaries, offices, equipment, research, travel, etc.), Even then, the business and leadership efforts to solicit and manage donations cost real money, and may be more difficult than the marketing and sales jobs of most startups.

Distribution 140

Distribution Africa United States Salary 140