Hunter Walker

JANUARY 2, 2017

The total value of these deals might look higher than when a tech company makes an acquihire but the premium tends to go to retention rather than the cap table (especially since (a) the acquirer might not be seen as an ‘attractive’ place to work and (b) there’s assumption of less equity upside post-acquisition).

Technical Review 115

Technical Review Cap Table Acquisition Startup 115

OnlyOnce

JULY 30, 2020

Sometimes you can have a major internal problem related to the cap table–a founder with a lot of stock needs liquidity or you need to push this person out of the company. For many startup CEOs the culmination of their life’s work is an exit of some kind (other than being fired!).

Cap Table 48

Cap Table Institutional Investors Startup Early Stage 48

Hunter Walker

MAY 13, 2023

Cash is at a premium so it’s not going to cap tables (preferred or common walk away from the deals with no dinero). The majority of typical acquirers (large and small) don’t have incremental headcount budget. Those who do, often believe they can hire from the open market without the hassle of an acquisition.

Early Stage 117

Early Stage Cap Table Acquisition Sales 117

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 11, 2023

It might ‘exit’ again at a later point (anything from a sale to an IPO), but it’s no long dependent on VC funding. HW: We’re going to see many more software CEOs (and cap tables) look for private equity exits like yours. This means the company is predominantly owned by the management/team and TPG.

Private Equity 78

Private Equity Equity DC Leveraged Buyout 78

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

Your historical trading information including financials and a “customer file” which shows the history of your transactions so that investors can run “cohort” analyses Customer reference, personal references, key team members, compensation, cap table, stock option plan, etc. and then asking to take a brochure home with you.

Cap Table 336

Cap Table Due Diligence Forecast Churn Rate 336

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 2, 2011

As Mark Suster pointed out yesterday on his blog , he's seeing more and more cases where "entrepreneurs are working hard to make sure they have as many VC names and famous angels on their cap table for signaling value." Remember, once you screw up your Cap Table it's really hard to go back.

Cap Table 125

Cap Table Term Sheet Liquidation Preference Technical Review 125

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 8, 2023

The reality is lots of companies – many of them quite promising – have already undergone, or will be facing, next financings which “clean up” old cap tables. As The Information proclaims, “ Unicorn Fire Sales Ahead.” Whatever gets reported is just the tip of the iceberg.

Portfolio 98

Portfolio Cap Table LP Valuation 98

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

Some firms provide tools to model investment, e.g., Capital’s Cost of Equity estimator ; Lighter Capital’s Cost of Capital Calculator ; Indie VC’s Cap Table Comparison Model ; 645 Ventures’ cap table simulator ; and Bootstrapp.co’s Comprehensive Cost of Capital Calculator. Typical business model.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

This states how the proceeds from a sale or dissolution of the company will be distributed. How VC’s Calculate Valuation : We walked through a standard deal where you raise $1 million at a $3 million pre-money valuation leading to a $4 million post money valuation.

Valuation 405

Valuation Liquidation Preference Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet 405

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). For those of you who fit that description, nice work. There is a lot to say about retaining control.

Private Equity 118

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 118

VC Adventure

JULY 27, 2011

Not all that shockingly, given who the VCs are in this case, they decided that – magically – this sale of a portion of the company’s assets could be convoluted into a liquidation of the entire business (a technical definition that relates to language in the charter and the “judgement&# of the board).

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Due Diligence Cap Table Portfolio 120

Austin Startup

AUGUST 20, 2017

Of all your hires, if you have commissioned sales people, those will give you the most problems if they’re not all given an equal chance to make their quotas and achieve their personal earnings goals. Your Cap Table is something that deserves constant care and attention. You’ll just never create the sales momentum you need.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Cap Table Securities and Exchange Commission 48

Gust

JANUARY 30, 2014

Viable business structure and cap table. Proven team (tech/product/design/mark eting/sales/domain/etc.). Platform/partnership/bizd ev/API strategy. External validation (ideally traction and/or passionate customers). Reasonable valuation. And the attributes I look for in that entrepreneur are: Integrity.

Cap Table 119

Cap Table API Valuation Startup 119

www.readwriteweb.com

DECEMBER 29, 2011

As Mark Suster pointed out yesterday on his blog , he's seeing more and more cases where "entrepreneurs are working hard to make sure they have as many VC names and famous angels on their cap table for signaling value." Remember, once you screw up your cap table it's really hard to go back.

Cap Table 47

Cap Table Term Sheet Liquidation Preference Technical Review 47

View from Seed

JUNE 11, 2019

This can be helpful for businesses that have long sales cycles, ones that are in unpopular market segments, or are located in geographies without ample downstream series A capital. In order to accomplish the things above, you will probably want to include more than 1–2 investors on your cap table. And stay in touch!

Syndicate 202

Syndicate Syndication Seed Stage Lead Investor 202

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

The mode purpose for funding is (in order of frequency) Sales, Marketing, Market Expansion, Product Development, and Hiring Employees. Additionally, Feenix typically needs fewer financial covenants and can provide quicker turnaround for due diligence with the benefit of transparency they receive by tracking credit card sales activity.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

The Startup Toolkit

AUGUST 29, 2012

If you can’t get enough introductions to fill your custdev or sales calendar , then you need either industry or customer advisors. You’ll need to keep getting into sales meetings. You probably don’t need to get the cap table involved in that. You’ll need to keep hiring tech guys.

Technical Review 38

Technical Review CTO Hire Cap Table Software Review 38

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

He had made some structural mistakes in NextMedium that meant the Cap Table and leadership team was a bit wacky. They did development in SF and had the ad sales team in NY. I believe investors had forced him to do this. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the problems in this structure.

Partner 340

Partner Los Angeles South Africa Cap Table 340

NZ Entrepreneur

JUNE 21, 2022

From how to develop your idea, to customer validation, investment, communication & marketing, governance, cap tables, due diligence, sales, are just some of the areas that as a founder you will need to navigate.

Founder 88

Founder Cap Table Cofounder New Zealand 88

Gust

NOVEMBER 15, 2012

But by far the biggest issue is that the very essence of public markets (and what makes them “public”) is that the SEC mandates an enormous amount of transparency, including complete quarterly financial statements, complete publication of the company’s cap table including all significant shareholders, and so forth.

Seed Stage 131

Seed Stage Hockey Stick Cap Table Liquidation Preference 131

View from Seed

AUGUST 6, 2015

It is either a shady sales tactic or unintended blunder for startups not to explain exactly where each new employee stands in that potential share. This is not an argument for circulating the entire cap table or compensation calendar. Everyone deserves his or her privacy.

Equity 120

Equity Employee Cap Table Stock Options 120

View from Seed

AUGUST 6, 2015

It is either a shady sales tactic or unintended blunder for startups not to explain exactly where each new employee stands in that potential share. This is not an argument for circulating the entire cap table or compensation calendar. Everyone deserves his or her privacy.

Equity 120

Equity Employee Cap Table Stock Options 120

OnlyOnce

MAY 26, 2022

Do you spend a lot of your time dealing with finance-related issues like fundraising, debt, investors, or cap table questions? Even without a ton of revenue visibility on forward looking sales, good CFOs should have enough of a grip on expenses, cash flow, and order-to-cash dynamics to produce good, rolling 12-month cash forecasts.

Cap Table 62

Cap Table Forecast Finance Metrics 62

Hunter Walker

NOVEMBER 13, 2018

So far at least these investments seem to contain some secondary sales. Early Stage Hybrid Buyout a la Wag, Brandless, DoorDash : Softbank becomes the largest investor on the cap table, sometimes clears out the Board, and, if reporting is correct, doesn’t broadly offer secondary to earlier investors. Cool, cool.

Cap Table 95

Cap Table IRR IPO Early Stage 95

Steve Blank

APRIL 8, 2010

They collected information that justified their assumptions about the problem, opportunity, market size, their solution and competitors and the their team, They rolled up a 5-year sales forecast with assumptions about their revenue model, pricing, sales, marketing, customer acquisition cost, etc. It was an exquisitely crafted plan.

Business Model 328

Business Model Business Plan Customer Cap Table 328

techcrunch.com

APRIL 26, 2013

That way, startups only have one entity in the cap table, which simplifies documentation and structure. with a $3 sale. As we wrote last December, the investment tool lets accredited investors put as little as $1,000 each into startup companies that it’s created an investment vehicle for. The Queue: EDDIE_MURPHY_LAUGH.wav.

SEC 61

SEC Accredited Investor San Diego New York City 61

Scott Edward Walker

SEPTEMBER 16, 2017

Solid post for young founders=> Cap Tables, Share Structures, Valuations, Oh My! “Your entire career is going to be filled with sales in some way. . “Your entire career is going to be filled with sales in some way. Below are my four most popular tweets for the past month. Cheers, Scott. Top 4 Tweets.

Cap Table 45

Cap Table Early Stage Valuation Video 45

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

Consider it a sales & marketing expense for them. Most lawyers that work with startups are willing to work on a deferred payment schedule. They’ll only do this if they believe you’re a high potential team and are likely to raise money at some point. They want to lock in future clients at an early stage.

Southern California 318

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 26, 2014

It allows you to truly focus on your product/idea instead of cap tables and keeping investors happy. Consider working part-time as a transition into entrepreneurship. I’m a big fan of bootstrapping a business instead of beginning with seed rounds. Have an original idea. So you’ve come up with an amazing solution to a problem.

Cap Table 162

Cap Table Bootstrapping Naming America 162

Haystack

OCTOBER 2, 2019

Maybe an accelerator should take lower cap table ownership unless they deliver investors who convert? And while accelerators can always do more to beef up their education and training (all noble efforts), it is ultimately up to the founder to make connection and to make that sale.

Deal Flow 106

Deal Flow Cap Table Early Stage Institutional Investors 106

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

I previously posted a detailed presentation with sales technology tools useful for B2B sales. On the other side of the table: FundAmerica , iDisclose , RegisteredTransferAgent , VStock Transfer , and Wealthforge helps companies (as well as funds) who are crowdfunding manage the process in a legally compliant way. Pitchbot.vc

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

Hippoland

APRIL 10, 2016

Secondly, even if you are ok with either arrangement you have proposed, it is a major red flag to investors to have much of the cap table locked up with dead-beat co-founders / professors / advisors who are not working day-to-day on the company.

Cofounder 48

Cofounder Cap Table Equity Vesting 48

VC Adventure

JULY 27, 2011

Not all that shockingly, given who the VCs are in this case, they decided that – magically – this sale of a portion of the company’s assets could be convoluted into a liquidation of the entire business (a technical definition that relates to language in the charter and the “judgement” of the board).

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Due Diligence Cap Table Portfolio 48

Hippoland

OCTOBER 18, 2018

I would raise more than $250k if I had a company that: 1) Was growing 30%+ MoM in sales and my operations could not keep up to fulfill those sales I’ve noticed for operationally-heavier companies (i.e.

Bootstrapping 90

Bootstrapping Cap Table Salary .Net 90

Eric Friedman

JUNE 27, 2016

I have seen what I call “predatory advisors” come in and really mess up a cap table by promising big intros and sales contracts only to disappear after the first 6-12 months. The funny thing about these moves is that it ends up being bad all around, even though the advisor thinks they are getting a great deal.

Equity 98

Equity Vesting Cap Table Common Stock 98

Bryce Dot VC

FEBRUARY 6, 2017

And not just a token “ramen” level of profitability: The startup is profitable, with January revenue of 10x its burn rate and sales expected to be in the millions for the quarter. Founders can trade the fundraising treadmill for the freedom, control and ownership that comes with managing your cap table closely.

Cap Table 40

Cap Table Burn Rate Dilution Bootstrapping 40

genylabs.typepad.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

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. They had a great managment team, A list VCs, great technology, excellent sales traction and market leadership in a very exciting space.

Equity 40

Equity Technical Review San Jose Stock 40