Both Sides of the Table

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Should You Really Sit on Other Boards When You’re a Startup Founder?

Both Sides of the Table

You’ll have a peer relationship with another CEO that you have a vested interest in that crosses over to a board – CEO relationship. . You’ll be on the other side of the financing discussions (a board member, rather than the CEO). . You’ll understand “fiduciary responsibility” more deeply. . You’ll get exposed to new management styles.

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First Round Funding Terms and Founder Vesting

Both Sides of the Table

This is part of my ongoing series “Pitching a VC“ There’s a great meme developing this morning on the need to simplify funding terms and documents. The meme was kicked off by Chris Dixon with this post saying that term sheets need to be simplified and align investor / founder interests.

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Who Should be on Your Startup Board?

Both Sides of the Table

just having a sparring partner with a vested interest in your success can be useful. If you get a smart person on the board?—?just As per the chart above, I highly recommend keeping a founder dominated board at the seed stage.

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I Would Only Fund an Entrepreneur with High Integrity

Both Sides of the Table

Perhaps VC isn’t the vest route for this individual. As usual it wasn’t as much the initial crime that bothered me as it was the bending of the truth afterward that he felt comfortable with. I’m not sure how we would have responded if there would have been an initial disclosure – I’ll never know.

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Is @AngelList Syndicates Really Such a Big Deal?

Both Sides of the Table

But as with many people who have a vested interest in fast rounds being assembled, they don’t quite get why it is so important that VCs actually take their time. Both are right. Jason, Kevin and Dave can move an order-of-magnitude faster than VCs and sometimes this is a good thing for entrepreneurs. founder fighting.

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The Co-Founder Mythology

Both Sides of the Table

Vested over 4 years. If you do decide to go down the 50/50 route, please at least consider: Make sure you have founder vesting for both of you. It is not uncommon to see startup founders walk before raising capital and take large pieces of equity with no vesting. Hire your co-founder. Give them a large sum of equity.

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Do Less. More.

Both Sides of the Table

And even this can’t stop their employees from fleeing after two years of vesting to move on to the next hot startup. Of course your friend’s company raised $50 million and offers it’s employees free kombucha and desk massages. For investors life is no different.