Altgate

JUNE 25, 2012

Re-posted from post co-authored with Prof. —————– Dead equity — equity held by employees and founders no longer working at the company — is a large and growing problem. Founders and hires have always quit, after all, and their companies don’t always have a way to reclaim their equity.

Equity 44

Equity Vesting Cap Table Technical Review 44

David Teten

MAY 7, 2019

By developing innovating technologies and taking a new approach, we believe that we can find alignment across various institutional and individual stakeholders with the means to leverage their networks and effectively push for progress. We agree on an equity split, vesting, and initial compensation structure. This work is unpaid.

America 60

America Technical Review Advisory Board Due Diligence 60

David Teten

JULY 10, 2019

By developing innovative technologies and taking a new approach, we believe that we can find alignment across various institutional and individual stakeholders with the means to leverage their networks and effectively push for progress. We agree on an equity split, vesting, and initial compensation structure.

America 60

America Technical Review Advisory Board Due Diligence 60

The Next Web

AUGUST 26, 2013

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Christian Reber, CEO and co-founder of Berlin-based 6Wunderkinder. Today, in steps 10-12 I want to discuss with you raising your first round of money, hiring to develop and maintain your company culture, as well as defining your role in the management of your startup.

Management 120

Management Cofounder Startup Bootstrapping 120

Altgate

AUGUST 25, 2012

Re-posted from post co-authored with Prof. —————– Dead equity — equity held by employees and founders no longer working at the company — is a large and growing problem. Founders and hires have always quit, after all, and their companies don’t always have a way to reclaim their equity.

Equity 28

Equity Vesting Cap Table Technical Review 28

David Teten

OCTOBER 1, 2015

Should you co-found your company with a software development shop? I’ve talked with a number of software development shops who are eager to get into the business of cofounding companies, i.e., getting product revenue and equity instead of just consulting revenue. What are the terms of their relationship with the founder?

Software Developers 60

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Technical Cofounder 60

www.startuplessonslearned.com

MAY 4, 2012

Founders Dilemmas: Equity Splits. The following is an excerpt from HBS Professor Noam Wasserman’s new book, The Founders Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup. On average, the founders who keep the most control over their company make the least amount of money. Lessons Learned.

Equity 72

Equity Founder Technical Cofounder Cofounder 72

www.avc.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

To be clear, these are hires we are talking about, not co-founders. Co-founders are an entirely different discussion and I am not talking about them in this post. We have developed a formula that we like to use for this purpose. I got this formula from a big compensation consulting firm.

Equity 64

Equity Employee CTO Hire Fractional CTO 64

Andrew Payne

SEPTEMBER 9, 2017

If an early very experienced developer has 1%, and a less senior dev has 0.5%, those become two reference points for the next dev hire. But, how should founders divide things up in the very beginning , where none of these internal reference points exist? And, how can founders talk about percentages before any funding?

Equity 71

Equity Founder Vesting Dilution 71

venturehacks.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

SUPPORTED BY Products Archives @venturehacks Books AngelList About RSS How to pick a co-founder by Naval Ravikant on November 12th, 2009 Update : Also see our 40-minute interview on this topic. Picking a co-founder is your most important decision. One founder companies can work, against the odds (hello, Mark Zuckerberg).

Cofounder 101

Cofounder Founder Technical Cofounder Technical Review 101

thestartuplawyer.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

He obviously never launched a startup and got shafted by a co-founder. He obviously never launched a startup and got shafted by a co-founder. You can start by examining every aspect of the co-founder relationship. Don’t leave anything out just because you and your co-founders already talked about it.

Cofounder 40

Cofounder Founder Preferred Stock Startup 40

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2013

Because at least while the VC spigot is open and flowing for high-potential individuals that fit a pattern that some VCs seem to favor they can access cheap capital that isn’t terribly dilutive and can use the to fund development and swing for the fences with limited focus on monetization. That leaves 99.99% of you. Your VC is right.

Burn Rate 412

Burn Rate Dilution Revenue Valuation 412

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Research & Development. Chip Morse , cofounder and partner with Morse, Barnes-Brown & Pendleton P.C., He suggests granting the options on day one but making sure they vest only upon satisfactory completion of the project. That way, he says, "Vesting is an encouragement for the project to be completed.". TECHNOLOGY.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 11, 2017

The press release lays out Joe Zhu’s business accomplishments, but we at the magazine have seen firsthand Joe Zhu’s work behind the scenes helping struggling startups with advice and counsel on both business strategy and funding, even when he has no vested interest. SmartHealth is built upon passion and proximity.

Illinois 76

Illinois Chicago Entrepreneur Cofounder 76

The Startup Lawyer

MARCH 17, 2012

Outsourcing your startup’s early technical development to a dev shop is like riding an elephant in a horseback polo match. With the surge in demand for technical co-founders, many startups have no choice but to contract with dev shops to build their idea. A dev shop is never a substitute for a technical co-founder.

Cofounder 92

Cofounder Vesting Equity Agile 92

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 24, 2012

The following is an excerpt from HBS Professor Noam Wasserman’s new book, The Founder's Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup. The book taps Noam’s analyses of data on 10,000 founders, plus the personal stories of Evan Williams of Twitter, Tim Westergren of Pandora, and two dozen other founders.

Equity 168

Equity Founder Cofounder Vesting 168

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 17, 2009

These periods of time can leave a founder very vulnerable in the future. Would you want to run the risk that your former employer could have a claim against the intellectual property you’ve created because you broke company policies and developed your ideas on company resources? The world is much safer for non-founders.

Founder Vesting 365

Founder Vesting Intellectual Property Stock Options IP 365

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

Why do these founders get to stay around? Because the balance of power has dramatically shifted from investors to founders. VCs competing for unicorn investments have given founders control of the board. A pre-IPO board usually had two founders, two VCs and one “independent” member. Technology Cycles Measured in Years.

Founder 245

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 245

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

Mike Arsenault and his two co-founders—all with technical backgrounds—built their MVP while working full time for other SaaS companies. “We An engineer by training, Founder and CEO Larry Gadea built the MVP of Envoy’s first product, Visitors, by himself using only free versions of software. “I spent $20k on their MVP.

Sweat Equity 78

Sweat Equity Software Review Vesting Cofounder 78

Feld Thoughts

JULY 29, 2011

Finance Friday’s gets off the ground with today’s post by introducing you to an imaginary startup, the entrepreneurs that we’ll being following throughout the series, and their first challenges: splitting up the founders’ equity and addressing the case where one of the founders provides the initial seed capital for the business.

Equity 137

Equity Finance Pre-Money Valuation Denver 137

Gust

DECEMBER 8, 2011

I urge all entrepreneurs to consult and develop a good working relationship with a qualified startup lawyer. Likewise, founders can benefit from understanding basic characteristics of the overall legal structure, formation and governance documents, rights and responsibilities of team members, etc. Newco, Inc.”)

Intellectual Property 139

Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement Delaware Stock 139

Pascal's View

DECEMBER 30, 2012

While every company founder makes trade-offs in building a company, few entrepreneurs appreciate the far-reaching implications of several critical decisions they will are required to make at the outset of a startup’s evolution. Most founders tend to make decisions with no process, based on their gut instincts.

Cofounder 34

Cofounder Liquidation Preference Vesting Equity 34

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 17, 2009

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. I have this mentality, too.

Founder Vesting 252

Founder Vesting Vesting Founder Term Sheet 252

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

Mike Arsenault and his two co-founders—all with technical backgrounds—built their MVP while working full time for other SaaS companies. “We An engineer by training, Founder and CEO Larry Gadea built the MVP of Envoy’s first product, Visitors, by himself using only free versions of software. “I spent $20k on their MVP.

Sweat Equity 50

Sweat Equity Software Review Vesting Cofounder 50

infochachkie.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Such positions include: PR, Sales, Product Development, Lead Generation, Strategic Planning, Fund Raising, etc. John is currently a partner at Rincon Venture Partners , a venture capital firm investing in early stage web-based businesses, and is a Co-Founder of RevUpNet , a performance-based online marketing agency. 4 Comments.

Equity 40

Equity Silicon Valley Cofounder Technical Review 40

blog.simeonov.com

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

I have been thinking a lot recently about how to apply agile development principles to investing and key aspects of startup development such as team building. Simeon, can you tell us how you structure ownership and control so you can fire your co-founders if necessary? All founders have the same agreement.

Founder 44

Founder Vesting Agile Startup 44

Scott Edward Walker

FEBRUARY 1, 2014

Mistake #3 : not setting-up vesting schedules (at 17:19). different perspective as a lawyer (lots of phone calls from founders with problems). Zuckerberg” problem – IP is not assigned to the company by the founders and/or third-party developers (including in foreign countries). Up-front vesting possible.

Software Review 111

Software Review Delaware Accredited Investor Due Diligence 111

Scott Edward Walker

FEBRUARY 1, 2014

i) Rule 506 preempts State law, which means all you have to do is file a Form D and pay a filing fee; and (ii) no disclosure requirement/PPM Possible to sell to “friends and family” (e.g., issues to address include: How have they treated their other portfolio companies? Are they good guys or jerks? Can they be counted-on and trusted?

Software Review 111

Software Review Delaware Accredited Investor Due Diligence 111

Start Up Blog

APRIL 28, 2011

What we’ve seen in digital…’A mashup co-creation, mass customised society’… we will inevitably see in retail…. It’s hard to believe but new printers are being developed that can take images off the screen and replicate them into an actual size unit. These founders are imbuing their new businesses with the values of our time.

Moldova 91

Moldova Internet Australia Libya 91

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2010

If I ever say anything less than positive, I have no vested interests in doing so. I spent a bunch of time with Co-founders Alex Bard and Gary Benitt. Especially for their stage of development. They have done 3 startups in the customer support space and one that wasn’t. I know the product intimately and it rocks.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Social Network Angel Investor Chad 265

Reid Hoffman

MAY 7, 2020

On the business side, the company has responded by refunding guest deposits for cancelled stays, setting up a $250 million fund to help its hosts, and working with former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to develop cleanliness policies and training. Please know this is not your fault.

Vietnam 36

Vietnam Hosting United States Vesting 36

The Startup Lawyer

JANUARY 31, 2010

What if a co-founder decides to bolt? vesting schedule and company repurchase option ). What if your startup’s rockstar developer claims ownership of the startup’s IP? Your startup can have the prettiest set of legal documents ever drafted and your startup still may not beat the game.

Vesting 40

Vesting IP Cofounder .Net 40

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2010

Take Jerry Yang, the co-founder of Yahoo! And in public companies we used to mockingly rename their titles to CVO … Chief Vesting Officer. This pissed off application developers because it became harder to find apps. Bad leaders want to be loved too much and their companies (or countries) suffer.

Entrepreneur 330

Entrepreneur Silicon Valley United States Technical Review 330

thinkspace.com

SEPTEMBER 7, 2012

How to Divide Equity to Startup Founders, Advisors, and Employees. The part that I’d like to zero in on is when you’ve got a high growth company what are some of the best practices out there to distribute equity to the founders, advisors, and employees? Equity for Founders. Should founders have anti-dilution rights?

Equity 62

Equity Employee Founder CTO Hire 62

www.chubbybrain.com

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

After a thorough analysis of those 32 start-up post-mortems, we have determined the common reasons founders gave to compile this list of the top 20 ways to have your startup fail. That also backfired on service development since we had to focus on current problems instead of adding new functionalities. 16 – Get outcompeted.

Cofounder 89

Cofounder Startup Technical Cofounder CTO Hire 89

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 4, 2013

We learned how to do customer development, conduct empathy interviews, and build a real MVP (not just an alpha version). The ability to work on your idea – something that you’re vested in and passionate about – and the confidence to take that idea to a competition or accelerator. for more questions.

Startup 130

Startup Vesting Cofounder Lean 130

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

To learn more about this space, I suggest join an online community I co-founded, PEVCTech. . This provides us more time to develop meaningful relationships with prospects and customers. Russell Rothstein, Founder and CEO, IT Central Station , a product review site, said, “We see VCs on our site very often. 1) Manage the firm .

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78