The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

In the bustling world of startups, every detail counts, from the way you pitch to potential investors to the attire your team dons daily. Dive into the world of branded workwear and discover why it’s an indispensable asset for startups aiming to make a mark.

Technical Review 133

Technical Review Startup Vesting Employee 133

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

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.

Early Stage 391

Early Stage Equity CTO Hire Sweat Equity 391

Up and Running

OCTOBER 28, 2022

Pros and cons of using your own money for startup costs. You have a vested interest in its success, which can provide you with the drive needed to overcome challenges and establish strong relationships with customers, vendors, suppliers, and so on. You may need to fund the enterprise on your own. Conduct a cost estimation.

Cost 138

Cost Startup Early Stage Vesting 138

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

Startup owners need to assume a three to five year wait for a liquidity event, such as acquisition or going public, before they can cash out. This is the purpose of a vesting schedule, which issues allocated stock over time. Key founder vesting should have no cliff. More board members is usually not better for the startup.

Stock 240

Stock .Net Vesting Founder Vesting 240

Eric Friedman

NOVEMBER 18, 2022

Advisor helping a startup – Midjourney. I think there are 3 types of advisors to startups; Level 1 (.05%-.25%): An underutilized action by founders is canceling their vesting due to lack of interaction or help with your company. How does vesting equity with an advisor work? Types of Early Stage Advisors.

Early Stage 103

Early Stage Equity Vesting Cap Table 103

The Startup Toolkit

FEBRUARY 15, 2013

false As a cheatsheet, the “normal” equity structure is: Founder terms: 4 year vesting, 1 year cliff, for everyone, including you. 2.0% ) : 4 year vesting, optional cliff, full acceleration on exit. When it comes to equity terms, there are only 3 things to understand: vesting, cliffs, and acceleration. Cliffs & vesting.

Vesting 56

Vesting Equity Cofounder Technical Review 56

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

If you haven’t raised any money or if you raised a small round from angels or friends & family I would suggest you avoid setting up a formal board unless the people who would join your board are deeply experienced at sitting on startup boards. just having a sparring partner with a vested interest in your success can be useful.

Venture Capital 236

Venture Capital Startup Angel Investor Silicon Valley 236

NZ Entrepreneur

SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

It is our startup sector which will drive this innovative progress. Startup founders are our ambitious problem solvers. To generate growth in a startup, it is almost always necessary to raise external capital to run the necessary. In order to understand startup governance, you need to understand risk and reward.

Technical Review 88

Technical Review Software Review New Zealand Due Diligence 88

Entrepreneurs-Journey.com by Yaro Starak

AUGUST 17, 2021

Introducing a new experiment on the Vested Capital podcast – a group show with some of my best friends. Through our friendship we discuss all the topics that I cover here on Vested Capital, so I […]. The post The Vested Capital Mastermind: Introducing Nick, Mani & Gideon (VCM1) appeared first on Yaro.Blog.

Vesting 98

Vesting Entrepreneur Marketing Startup 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2022

Wouldn’t you like to be one of the lucky people who joined Google and Facebook when these were startups, and now be a multi-millionaire or better? So people ask me “How many shares should I ask for or expect when I join a startup today?” Thus, options don’t “pay the mortgage” today, so to speak. It’s a huge gamble.

Stock Options 343

Stock Options Advisory Board Stock Startup 343

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2016

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. The default answer, to keep peace in the family, is to split everything equally, but that’s a terrible answer, since now no one is in control, and startups need a clear leader. Now comes the reality check.

Equity 120

Equity Cofounder Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property 120

Austin Startup

DECEMBER 9, 2019

Watch out for the most common scam in startup world?—?Sputnik Another red flag is when a SIC member asks for equity in your company upfront, without any performance vesting standards. Watch out for the most common scam in startup world?—?Sputnik This is a bad deal for you, if you take it.

Vesting 72

Vesting Early Stage Seed Capital Equity 72

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2012

I recently read Brad Feld’s thought provoking piece encouraging founders to sit on the board of another startup company. I found it thought provoking because I’ve always believed startup founders need extreme focus on only their company to succeed. You’ll understand “fiduciary responsibility” more deeply. .

Founder 294

Founder Vesting Startup Stock 294

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. The default answer, to keep peace in the family, is to split everything equally, but that’s a terrible answer, since now no one is in control, and startups need a clear leader. Now comes the reality check.

Equity 238

Equity Cofounder Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property 238

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2022

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders quandaries in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Giving equity is realistic, but base it on contribution and role, with vesting after time and milestones.

Founder 325

Founder Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event 325

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2021

Startup owners need to assume a three to five year wait for a liquidity event, such as acquisition or going public, before they can cash out. This is the purpose of a vesting schedule, which issues allocated stock over time. Key founder vesting should have no cliff. More board members is usually not better for the startup.

Vesting 298

Vesting Dilution Stock Founder Vesting 298

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2016

Every startup founder loves to prompt for questions from investors and potential key team members about their vision, and the huge opportunity that can be had with their disruptive technology. Early stage burn rates over $50K per month, or a runway of less than six months may indicate an inefficient or desperate startup.

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Burn Rate Technical Review Intellectual Property 120

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. Was it a Startup Founder Developer Gap ? Did they really need a Startup CTO or Developer or both? who start with small equity percentages don’t end up making very much from startups. Was it a case of needing Homework?

Technical Cofounder 241

Technical Cofounder CTO Hire Equity Sweat Equity 241

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2015

Every startup founder loves to prompt for questions from investors and potential key team members about their vision, and the huge opportunity that can be had with their disruptive technology. Early stage burn rates over $50K per month, or a runway of less than six months may indicate an inefficient or desperate startup.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Due Diligence Sweat Equity Burn Rate 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2014

Two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. The default answer, to keep peace in the family, is to split everything equally, but that’s a terrible answer, since now no one is in control, and startups need a clear leader. Now comes the reality check.

Cofounder 261

Cofounder Stock Founder Technical Cofounder 261

Scott Edward Walker

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

Vesting Restrictions. The first deadly mistake relates to vesting restrictions. In addition, sometimes a portion of the shares will be deemed to be vested “up front” – meaning that they are not subject to vesting — particularly where a founder has made a significant contribution prior to the company’s incorporation.

Vesting 89

Vesting Software Review IP Intellectual Property 89

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 19, 2022

To keep workers as safe as possible, it’s necessary to invest in and police proper safety gear wear like helmets, vests, gloves, goggles, masks and toe guards. The post Better Solutions for Better Operational Efficiency in Construction appeared first on The Startup Magazine.

Operations 122

Operations Technical Review Mobile .Net 122

The Startup Lawyer

JANUARY 27, 2018

One of the most asked questions I receive when setting up new startup companies is “Do my vesting shares have any voting rights?” ” Or in other words, does a stockholder only get to vote based on their amount of vested shares?

Vesting 52

Vesting Founder Startup 52

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

Recently I wrote a post arguing to make the definition of a Startup more inclusive than that to which Silicon Valley, fueled by Venture Capital return profiles, would sometimes like to attach to the word. Most of what I think about startup communities came from mentorship by Brad Feld through hours of private discussion and debate.

Community 378

Community San Diego Silicon Valley Los Angeles 378

VC Adventure

AUGUST 16, 2020

Some feel that, especially for early employees, options should act as a reward for taking startup risk. Many startups use option packages to compete with the larger current comp packages of bigger, more established businesses. The grant would begin vesting on the employee’s 4th anniversary and will vest monthly over 4 years.

Programming 149

Programming Vesting Equity Software Review 149

K9 Ventures

OCTOBER 27, 2016

One of these norms is how founder vesting and employee vesting works. I won’t get into employee vesting today as that has much more to consider than I have time to cover in this short post today. Here is a good summary post from Cooley GO on Founder Vesting. The first is fairly obvious.

Founder Vesting 48

Founder Vesting Vesting Founder Term Sheet 48

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

This hands-on approach is indicative of a vested interest in the success of the business, far removed from the notion of lending to “bad” companies. Arif Bhalwani, CEO, Third Eye Capital The post Arif Bhalwani, CEO of Third Eye Capital, on the ‘Golden Age’ of the Private Credit Market appeared first on The Startup Magazine.

Technical Review 133

Technical Review Due Diligence Bankruptcy Intellectual Property 133

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2013

In reality, so-called “founder’s” shares are simply common stock, issued at the time of startup incorporation, for a very low price, and normally allocated to the multiple initial players commensurate with their investment or role. These shares are allocated and committed, but not really issued and owned (vested) until later.

Vesting 245

Vesting Common Stock Stock Founder Vesting 245

ReadWriteStart

MAY 3, 2012

The conflicting (frequently unsolicited) advice startup entrepreneurs too often hear is enough to make you tune it all out. But bootstrapping a startup is not easy, requiring discipline and fortitude, as well as ingenuity. But bootstrapping a startup is not easy, requiring discipline and fortitude, as well as ingenuity.

Bootstrapping 137

Bootstrapping Software Review Startup Equity 137

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 22, 2017

Accountants also have the specialist knowledge to glean insights about the business by interpreting the figures, and can often give specific advice to startups. You both have a vested interest in understanding how financially healthy the business is, and sharing bookkeeping tasks will keep everyone up to speed. Share the Load.

Software Review 72

Software Review Startup Vesting Forecast 72

View from Seed

JANUARY 5, 2016

I realize sports analogies for startups can feel trite, but as you think about the different phases of team-building in a startup, this one is actually pretty spot on. At the beginning, a startup team is typically just a couple of co-founders. Basketball or football? Below, I take a look at each. Below, I take a look at each.

Founder 120

Founder Cofounder Startup Early Stage 120

The Next Web

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

George Deeb is the Managing Partner at Chicago-based Red Rocket Ventures , a startup consulting and financial advisory firm based in Chicago. There are a lot of variables to go into calculating a fair equity split a startup team. You can follow George on Twitter at @georgedeeb and @RedRocketVC.

Cofounder 136

Cofounder Equity Founder Seed Stage 136

View from Seed

APRIL 11, 2016

Editor’s note: The NextView team periodically holds internal “shootarounds,” where we discuss a startup topic or trend and try to make sense of it for everyone involved: entrepreneurs, investors, and consumers. With texting and SMS and chat, for instance, there’s less vested interest in the conversation and how the other person feels.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Technology Audio Startup 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2019

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders quandaries in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Giving equity is realistic, but base it on contribution and role, with vesting after time and milestones.

Hockey Stick 243

Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event Startup 243

Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2019

VC’s have just changed the ~50-year old social contract with startup employees. In doing so they may have removed one of the key incentives that made startups different from working in a large company. For most startup employee’s startup stock options are now a bad deal. Why Startups Offer Stock Options.

Stock Options 333

Stock Options Stock Vesting Common Stock 333

David Teten

MAY 7, 2019

Do you have a great team at your seed startup, but your product just isn’t working? Would you like to have a salary from day one that you work full-time on your startup? We are a nonpartisan, bipartisan startup of concerned Americans. We agree on an equity split, vesting, and initial compensation structure.

America 60

America Technical Review Advisory Board Due Diligence 60

David Teten

JULY 10, 2019

Do you have a great team at your seed startup, but your product just isn’t working? Would you like to have a salary from day one that you work full-time on your startup? We are a nonpartisan, bipartisan startup of concerned Americans. We agree on an equity split, vesting, and initial compensation structure.

America 60

America Technical Review Advisory Board Due Diligence 60