YoungUpstarts

JUNE 26, 2014

It allows you to truly focus on your product/idea instead of cap tables and keeping investors happy. If you lack a key component to running your business, consider finding a partner to handle that aspect. The transition from friend to employee to entitled can happen quickly and result in some tough decisions.

Cap Table 162

Cap Table Bootstrapping Naming America 162

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

PEVCTech is partnering with Blue Future Partners to run the first large-scale survey of VCs’ technology stack. Johann Kratzer of Blue Future Partners , a fund of funds, observed, “The majority of the hundreds of funds we’ve diligenced rely predominantly on their relationships to source deals. Greylock Partners.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

Board Effect

MAY 10, 2019

Capitalization tables—”cap tables” for those who don’t have time for extra syllables—map the balance of power in a company. If org charts are about people power , cap tables are about money power. In reality, however, cap tables are often far more complex. What is a cap table?

Cap Table 40

Cap Table Liquidation Preference Dilution Liquidity Event 40

BeyondVC

NOVEMBER 17, 2016

Our goal was to be the best first check partner for enterprise founders, bringing the value add of a VC firm while moving with the speed and conviction of an angel investor. Most importantly, we wanted to thank our amazing group of founders that we have had the privilege to partner with over the years.

Cap Table 60

Cap Table Cofounder Dividend Institutional Investors 60

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 3, 2020

The partner at the fund, the VC, gets to do the fun part—the meeting with founders, vetting deals, negotiating, helping, etc. Access to the partner. If you’ve put money into a fund, I think it’s reasonable to expect that partner to check out the deal flow that you find on your own, and let you know what they think.

Portfolio 134

Portfolio Syndicate Syndication Deal Flow 134

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 26, 2022

Box had just 50 employees and was hitting an inflection point when I joined in 2009, so there was far more work to do than people to do it. My boss, Jen Grant , was an incredible manager, and Aaron Levie, the co-founder and CEO, was a fantastic partner on all things communications. What type of opportunities are you most interested in?

IPO 91

IPO Cofounder Early Stage Portfolio 91

Ben's Blog

APRIL 1, 2011

I remember when I first became CEO, an investor asked me to send him the “cap table.” The problem is that she doesn’t actually fix any of the problems and the employees eventually become quite frustrated that the Chief Executive keeps ignoring the most basic problems and conflicts. Ultimately, the company turns to crap.

Management 78

Management Cap Table Balance Sheet Bankruptcy 78

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

But in business, you want a lot of partners. In the private equity universe, most Partners have primary training as deal-makers, not as managers. Point Nine Capital uses 15Five for continuous employee feedback. See Bessemer Venture Partners’ A comprehensive guide to security for startups. 1) Manage the firm . 2) Market .

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

genylabs.typepad.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Steve and Carolyn are partners at Emergent Research and Senior Fellows at the Society for New Communications Research. I wont bother going into details on start-up financing terms ( see this post for an overview of typical VC terms) except to say if you dont know and understand: the firms cap table and valuation. Good point.

Equity 40

Equity Technical Review San Jose Stock 40

Up and Running

APRIL 25, 2014

When you’re starting a new company, you need not only to explain your concept to potential investors, but also to make sure your partners and employees are on the same page as you. What does the cap table look like as you bring on new investors and team members that have equity? You can share your vision.

Silicon Valley 104

Silicon Valley Business Plan Entrepreneur Cap Table 104

The Next Web

OCTOBER 7, 2013

From the perspective of my outside friends, why are employees that so clearly impact the growth trajectory of a company look like they’re getting screwed? Cap tables sound intimidating. Startup employees are granted common shares out of something called an option pool. That is your opportunity cost.

Engineer 129

Engineer Dilution Option Pool Vesting 129

venturehacks.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Paul says, “Whenever you’re trading stock in your company for anything, whether it’s money or an employee or a deal with another company, the test for whether to do it is the same. Consider the opportunity cost of spending shares on employees and investors. We previously posted a table of market rates for employees.

Equity 40

Equity Cap Table Valuation RSS 40

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 16, 2023

That’s how it feels when your hot deal from two years ago winds up running low on cash and gets into a pay-to-play round that wipes out the cap table. Chetan Puttangunta from Benchmark responded by highlighting the sheer effort of one of one of his colleagues: “My partner Peter Fenton is the best board director I’ve ever worked with.

Non-Compete 97

Non-Compete Cofounder Cap Table Reputation 97

David Teten

OCTOBER 1, 2015

intrapreneurs, e.g., the employee of GE who is tasked with launching a new business. Partnering with a source of capital, connections, and expertise for a large equity chunk is often worth it in those scenarios (e.g., In those cases, the incentives for the founders and early employees are extraordinarily hard to align long term.

Software Developers 60

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Technical Cofounder 60

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 11, 2019

Ann Miura-Ko is a founding partner at Floodgate , a seed-stage VC firm. There were none in the firm, so I remember asking him if he knew of any general partners who were women in the Boston area. In a place where there are many, many venture capital firms, he couldn't think of a single female general partner.

Founder 68

Founder Lean Venture Capital Cofounder 68

blog.simeonov.com

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

Most partners, be they lawyers or VCs, tend to tweak the standard with their own language. This can be a convenient shortcut to separate someone’s status (founder) from their role (employee or contractor or advisor, etc.) Founder directors often get the same initial acceleration as employee founders. Which founder agreement?

Founder 44

Founder Vesting Agile Startup 44

venturehacks.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

The best sellers can sell to customers, partners, investors, and employees. Partner with someone who is irrationally ethical, or a rational believer that nice guys finish first. Got the idea for biz but my partner wanted the quick reward but not the up and down of the journey. There are bounds to rationality. Coincidence?

Cofounder 101

Cofounder Founder Technical Cofounder Technical Review 101

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 9, 2020

He also has strongly held ideas about structuring a company to institutionalize these intentions to make sure the next leader, future employees, and the next board will be true to that philosophy. 47:49) Brian on the letter he wrote to employees to announce the layoffs and the response to it. (50:17) 6,000, 7,000 employees.

Silicon Valley 60

Silicon Valley Hosting Cofounder Employee 60

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

The reason is that employees are investors too—oftheir time—and they want just as much to be able to cash out. Ifyour competitors offer employees stock options that might make themrich, while you make it clear you plan to stay private, yourcompetitors will get the best people. Dont be misled by thisoptimism.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 20, 2016

All Unicorn participants — founders, company employees, venture investors and their limited partners (LPs) — are seeing their fortunes put at risk from the very nature of the Unicorn phenomenon itself. And there are also modern examples of investors beating the founders and employees out the door.

IPO 40

IPO Term Sheet Silicon Valley Valuation 40

Rob Go

FEBRUARY 24, 2014

Apart from the founders and employees of the company, Sequoia Capital was the big winner, and that was recognized by everyone. This tends to make LPs happy and make the lead partner look good among his or her colleagues. This post is a bit of inside baseball, but bear with me. Most VC’s like having some leverage on their dollars.

Cap Table 78

Cap Table Valuation Finance Institutional Investors 78

NZ Entrepreneur

JULY 12, 2018

What happens if they don’t work out after six months, yet they hang around forever on the cap table, through an equity stake they never really earned? My own father had difficulties with partners in his business. Co-founder, or employee with an ESOP (Employee stock ownership Plan)?

Cofounder 44

Cofounder Founder Vesting Cap Table 44

venturehacks.com

OCTOBER 21, 2010

As your lawyer explains that the so-called pre-money valuation always includes a large unallocated option pool for new employees, your stomach sinks. Update : Check out our $9 cap table which calculates the effect of the option pool shuffle on your effective valuation. You call your lawyer: “What the fuck?!&# share to $1.00/share:

Option Pool 68

Option Pool Pre-Money Valuation Dilution Warrant 68

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 4, 2021

Every company I meet these days is grappling with this topic, from ESG to employee activism, to so much more. So I've been able to move to another location with my partner and another city, I should say. Our first thought was just, how do we take care of our employees? A full transcript is beneath the show resources below.

IPO 113

IPO Cofounder Technical Review Government 113

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 25, 2019

To me, an angel investor is someone who writes at least $10k checks (if not actually $25k) directly into company cap tables (as opposed to into syndicates or SPVs) and at least has some direct relationship with the founder. Now, everyone’s a partner, blurring the line around who can actually lead an investment and get a deal done.

Syndicate 102

Syndicate Syndication Angel Investor Cap Table 102

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

And entrepreneurs are working hard to make sure they have as many VC names and famous angels on their cap table for signaling value. That’s what they’ll be saying to other VCs or their partners as your company is flaming out. As a result they end up taking money from many firms all at once. If you had taken $1.3m

Strategic Investors 312

Strategic Investors Los Angeles Cap Table Startup 312

Haystack

DECEMBER 28, 2019

The result is more startups, more money and firms to fund it, and an increasing belief that access to technology-related equity (either as a founder, employee, or investor) must become increasingly democratized or rebalanced as a result of the compounding effects at scale we are now witnessing. 3/ The Streaming Media Effect.

China 146

China Startup Lock-up Period Cap Table 146