Eric Friedman

NOVEMBER 18, 2022

Advisor helping a startup – Midjourney. I have been on both sides of the cap table of advisors. I think there are 3 types of advisors to startups; Level 1 (.05%-.25%): An example here is Shaq taking 1% of Ring and doing major endorsement deals and marketing. Types of Early Stage Advisors.

Early Stage 103

Early Stage Equity Vesting Cap Table 103

Hunter Walker

MAY 13, 2023

“Worst case scenario we’ll sell to a larger startup or public company for about ~$1.5m I was on both sides of these transactions – buying startups for Google/YouTube and angel investing in high quality technical founders. Not in today’s market conditions. Again, not really in this market.

Early Stage 117

Early Stage Cap Table Acquisition Sales 117

Up and Running

JULY 2, 2014

Picking the right attorney in your startup is as important as picking the right business partner. You can’t underestimate the importance of selecting an attorney who “gets” your business model, your market opportunity, and most importantly, your fundraising and exit strategy. We had stars in our eyes and excitement in our bellies.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Angel Investor Due Diligence Dilution 118

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

15 years ago we were at the peak of Internet hype with the launch of many over-capitalized businesses with a market size & opportunity was limited. The VC market has right-sized (returned back to mid 90′s levels & less competition). But markets value high growth over short-term profitability. Where are we today?

Technical Review 398

Technical Review Venture Capital Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 398

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2016

In fact, it’s really just an in-depth common-sense analysis of key success parameters of any startup to assess the risk before final commitment. Customer and market interaction. This element is usually called technical due diligence and typically consists of a day with your engineering and marketing team led by internal team leaders.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Due Diligence Cap Table Intellectual Property 120

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

If you’re a startup and you don’t have a close relationship with a few law firms you’re really missing one of the most important relationships that any entrepreneur can have. I write about some of the lessons in my post on Startup Mistakes. Consider it a sales & marketing expense for them.

Southern California 318

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

2) Marketing. See How Private Equity and VC Investors Are Using Social Media. 4) Originate investments. See best practices in building financial models , a template financial model , and valuing startup employee options. 10) Time, market, and exit investment. See my overview of sales technology tools useful for B2B sales.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Private Equity Management Cap Table 60

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

2) Marketing. See How Private Equity and VC Investors Are Using Social Media. 4) Originate investments. See best practices in building financial models , a template financial model , and valuing startup employee options. 10) Time, market, and exit investment. See my overview of sales technology tools useful for B2B sales.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Private Equity Management Cap Table 60

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

Markets like these are very kind to angel investors because you get taken out early and see a nice pop on your investment. I know some people think the whole market has been disrupted and startups and funding work differently these days. Total disruption on the funding market? This is actually the norm. I doubt it.

Cap Table 283

Cap Table Angel Investor Liquidation Preference Deal Flow 283

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

More and more startups are pursuing Revenue-Based VCs , but “RBI” doesn’t fit everyone. The value ascribed by subsequent investors (in a secondary); buyers (acquisition); or the public markets (IPO). Low; a surprising number of Series A/B startups are missing basic financial reporting mechanisms. Of the Inc. raised from angels.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 8, 2023

At the time, this is last quarter and the stock market has trended upwards nicely since then (a potential leading indicator of private tech valuations), we all agreed venture portfolios were probably still 25-40% overvalued. Soft Acquisition Market. Valuations. Whatever gets reported is just the tip of the iceberg.

Portfolio 98

Portfolio Cap Table LP Valuation 98

Haystack

SEPTEMBER 16, 2018

As lines of code continue to proliferate through the world, as the rate of startup formation increases to seize those opportunities, and as the VC industry expands to support those new teams and opportunities, there is no shortage of people to visit for advice — not to mention all the resources online.

Cap Table 110

Cap Table Marketing Early Stage Founder 110

Hunter Walker

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

Like parenting a toddler coming off a sugar high, the last 18 months of startup activity has been marked largely by tears, shrieks, and occasional throwing of toys. Haystack’s Semil Shah wrote up his POV on what this has all meant for the seed market and one point in particular caught my eye. Gotta own enough of your winners.

Cap Table 93

Cap Table Valuation Salary Seed Stage 93

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

When you raise money from investors you produce information that you are told they want and care about: A fund-raising deck that articulates your company strategy, plans, team, market, competitors and so forth. I never thought of this until I became the Founder & CEO of my first startup company. So how does this work in practice?

Cap Table 336

Cap Table Due Diligence Forecast Churn Rate 336

OnlyOnce

OCTOBER 28, 2021

And for the most part, the same is true about our cap table. No institutional debt like a messy cap table, legacy people issues, leases for offices we don’t want or need any more. In fact, at our peak of 500 people, the company employed one email marketer and therefore had one user of our own product.

Cap Table 62

Cap Table Early Stage Cofounder Leadership 62

keen.io

FEBRUARY 5, 2013

How I negotiated my startup compensation. When I started thinking about joining Keen, I quickly realized there is a lot I don’t know about startups. And if the CEO says, “Salaries will be adjusted to market value soon,” that’s probably a best-case scenario. I knew enough to know I wanted to join a startup.

Salary 50

Salary Equity Startup San Francisco 50

View from Seed

OCTOBER 11, 2022

And I’ve been fortunate enough to witness their startups scale from ideas to $1B+ businesses (and even an IPO in the case of Poshmark). And I am also bullish on the future as I firmly believe that market downturns are crucibles for the most resilient, ambitious, and creative founders to bring inspiring ideas and changes to life.

North America 156

North America San Francisco Cap Table Cofounder 156

VC Adventure

AUGUST 15, 2018

As is true today, there was a requirement that options be priced at or above the “fair market value” of the underlying stock (otherwise there would be tax consequences to the optionee and sometimes to the company as well).

Valuation 48

Valuation Common Stock Cap Table Software Review 48

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 4, 2022

Morality aside, I’d say given the inherent riskiness of startups, I’m not sure this would be a great addition to your cap table. I will die on the hill that life is too short to have misogynistic asshats on your cap table—even if it takes you longer to fundraise. Drug kingpin?

Cap Table 163

Cap Table Cofounder Private Equity Finance 163

Hunter Walker

FEBRUARY 2, 2023

Why Pairing Junior Executives With External Mentors Can Accelerate Your Hiring and Their Professional Development Often at a startup it’s better to hire for talent, ambition, and commitment, than years in role or ‘did they have the job already somewhere else.’ Monthly 1:1s and as-needed tactical advice, introductions, and so on.

Hiring 60

Hiring Cap Table Equity Dividend 60

Austin Startup

AUGUST 20, 2017

August 20, 2017: This is another in my series of posts all leading up to a book on Startup Decision Making. One of the most common mistakes I see in startups is making decisions that lose sight of the context , including the past, present, and future. Sooner or later everybody in a startup knows what everyone else is getting paid.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Cap Table Securities and Exchange Commission 48

techcrunch.com

APRIL 26, 2013

For Startups And Winning SEC Approval, AngelList Opens Up Investment Platform To More Companies. In December, AngelList , a service that matches early-stage startups with investors, debuted the ability to allow accredited investors to actually invest in startups on the platform with as little as $1,000. Enterprise. Smartphones.

SEC 61

SEC Accredited Investor San Diego New York City 61

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

Due to competitive markets we ended up with a pretty good term sheet until we needed to raise money in April 2001 and then we got completely screwed. The more senior members you have (say you already have a CEO, CTO, VP marketing, VP Biz Dev, VP Products) then the less options you’ll need and vice versa.

Valuation 405

Valuation Liquidation Preference Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet 405

Gust

NOVEMBER 15, 2012

Parts of the answer are that (a) there are enormous regulatory requirements relating to secondary markets, and (b) there are no analysts tracking private company stocks.

Seed Stage 131

Seed Stage Hockey Stick Cap Table Liquidation Preference 131

OnlyOnce

DECEMBER 1, 2021

Lots of startups have nothing more than an outsourced bookkeeper or one junior staff accountant. As startups scale, they are likely to hire a more senior accountant, maybe an AR/AP/Collections staff member, or even a Controller or VP Finance. What comes before a full-fledged CFO? Are you getting calls from vendors about late payments?

Hiring 117

Hiring Cap Table Finance Equity 117

Gust

JANUARY 30, 2014

Large and growing market. Viable business structure and cap table. Startup experience. Invested Interests David Rose entrepreneur funding invest startup' Real domain expertise. Provable product need. Scalable business model. Competitive advantage. Platform/partnership/bizd ev/API strategy. Reasonable valuation.

Cap Table 119

Cap Table API Valuation Startup 119

View from Seed

AUGUST 6, 2015

When someone goes to work for an early startup, the compensation package general includes an annual salary, health insurance, and, instead of fixed-cost performance upside, a percentage of unvested options to purchase equity in the company. This is not an argument for circulating the entire cap table or compensation calendar.

Equity 120

Equity Employee Cap Table Stock Options 120

View from Seed

AUGUST 6, 2015

When someone goes to work for an early startup, the compensation package general includes an annual salary, health insurance, and, instead of fixed-cost performance upside, a percentage of unvested options to purchase equity in the company. This is not an argument for circulating the entire cap table or compensation calendar.

Equity 120

Equity Employee Cap Table Stock Options 120

Pascal's View

JULY 9, 2017

While VC deals remain marketed on a pre-money basis, sophisticated investors know that what matters most is the post-money (how much of the company will I own after all of the new shares have been issued). There is nothing wrong with using a SAFE or a convertible note in a startup if you know its implications. Sound simple?

Post-Money Valuation 49

Post-Money Valuation Valuation Cap Table Covenant 49

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 30, 2022

The same can be said of startups and their founders, in the sense that so many things can go wrong in the building of a company to an exit, that success almost seems to be a statistical anomaly [more on how bees fly ]. Just like many of the startups we’re fortunate to support! Another place for experiments and improvements in 2023.

Cap Table 67

Cap Table Venture Capital Cofounder Portfolio 67

Altgate

JUNE 25, 2012

Choe’s equity is a headline-grabbing example of “dead equity”: equity owned by people who are no longer actively working for the startup. Every share of dead equity could have been redeployed as incentive for a current or future contributor to grow the value of the startup. Dead equity has always been a significant issue for startups.

Equity 44

Equity Vesting Cap Table Technical Review 44

NZ Entrepreneur

JUNE 21, 2022

Want to tap in to the best startup advice from entrepreneurs who are out there doing it? Welcome to ‘500 Founders’ where we ask startup founders and innovators from around New Zealand, What is one piece of advice you would give to people working on their first startup and why? Thomas Clyma – Cofounder.

Founder 88

Founder Cap Table Cofounder New Zealand 88

adamac.blogspot.com

MARCH 9, 2010

Adam MacBeth Tuesday, April 07, 2009 10 Startup Red Flags Ive worked on a number of startups: from seed-stage through IPO, as a founder, employee, advisor, and consultant, as well as evaluating a bunch from the outside, so Ive seen my share of screw-ups. This means there MUST be a technical founder in a startup. Yeah me neither.

Technical Review 41

Technical Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO Startup 41

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 7, 2014

If you want a great primer on how the VC and startup funding scene changed here’s a great primer. It is less about actual money and more about structure of your Cap Table. Startup Lessons' If you''re newer to VC math here''s a great primer]. So VCs started writing some smaller A-rounds. and there''s always a but].

Cap Table 399

Cap Table Silicon Valley Term Sheet Finance 399

Gust

OCTOBER 8, 2014

If you want a great primer on how the VC and startup funding scene changed here’s a great primer. It is less about actual money and more about structure of your Cap Table. It’s hard building a startup. Invested Interests cap table venture capital' If you''re newer to VC math here''s a great primer].

Cap Table 136

Cap Table Silicon Valley Term Sheet Non-Compete 136

Hunter Walker

JUNE 14, 2018

But Homebrew is founded upon the belief that we’ll put sweat and reputation behind your startup, not just a wire transfer, so to me it seems like a normal question to help understand if you need things that we can, or can’t, provide. The answers I receive typically fall across four categories: 1.

Cap Table 81

Cap Table Portfolio Vertical Reputation 81

The Next Web

OCTOBER 21, 2013

As the European startup ecosystem matures, you would expect young entrepreneurs to enjoy ever-increasing access to useful advice from mentors, business leaders, experienced entrepreneurs, legal advisors and investors. Neil Rimer is a Partner and co-founder of Index Ventures. Alarm bells.

Cap Table 128

Cap Table Option Pool Angel Investor Entrepreneur 128