Hunter Walker

FEBRUARY 20, 2024

Founder Vesting [Jared Hecht/USV] – Jared joined USV earlier this year and it’ll be interesting to see how his writing changes as he adds ‘institutional VC’ to his founder and angel investor knowledge. Stretching things out to a six-year vest helps to prevent co-founder abandonment.

Founder Vesting 60

Founder Vesting Vesting Cap Table Founder 60

View from Seed

JANUARY 5, 2016

At the beginning, a startup team is typically just a couple of co-founders. What we suggest at this juncture is that founders get acclimated to the tactics of scaling beyond the founding team. What to Address During Genesis Team Building: How do we divide and conquer responsibilities as co-founders?

Founder 120

Founder Cofounder Startup Early Stage 120

Agile VC

DECEMBER 4, 2014

I like to say that “there are only co-founders” — it’s extraordinarily rare for a successful business to have just a sole founder. But not all co-founders are equal in terms of title, ownership, responsibilities, and so forth. Sometimes co-founders put off the equity split question for some time.

Cofounder 173

Cofounder Equity Founder Sweat Equity 173

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 11, 2021

Here are five of the most common examples: Failure to document a Founder agreement at the beginning. This oversight can lead to the so-called “forgotten Founder” problem. Trouble with the IRS over Founders stock value. Founders ignore non-compete clauses from former employers.

Cost 363

Cost Non-Compete Accredited Investor Cofounder 363

View from Seed

DECEMBER 4, 2014

Editor’s note: Understanding how to divide founder equity at a startup can be tricky, even to the point of reaching emotional riffs between founders. I like to say that “there are only co-founders” — it’s extraordinarily rare for a successful business to have just a sole founder.

Equity 315

Equity Founder Sweat Equity Cofounder 315

Scott Edward Walker

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

Question My co-founders and I are working on a cool new site, and we’ll be ready to launch in a few weeks. Vesting Restrictions. The first deadly mistake relates to vesting restrictions. Otherwise, if one of the founders quits after a few months, he would take all of his shares with him.

Vesting 89

Vesting Software Review IP Intellectual Property 89

www.avc.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Employee Equity: How Much? The most common comment in this long and complicated MBA Mondays series on Employee Equity is the question of how much equity should you grant when you make a hire. To be clear, these are hires we are talking about, not co-founders. This could include reception, clerical employees, etc.

Equity 64

Equity Employee CTO Hire Fractional CTO 64

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2019

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders quandaries in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Should you start a company solo or find co-founders to help you? The co-founder relationship dilemma.

Hockey Stick 243

Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event Startup 243

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2013

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup Founders dilemmas in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Should you start a company solo or find co-Founders to help you? The co-Founder relationship dilemma.

Founder 245

Founder Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event 245

Steve Blank

MAY 19, 2015

I got answers that sounded like the Tom’s – new stock grants for the executive staff, great new building, and oh, by the way, Tom and his co-founder got to sell some stock in the new round. These were the employees that had the institutional knowledge and hard-earned skills. Organizational debt was coming due.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Salary Early Stage Software Review 120

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. They fail to include vesting terms (i.e., Noam Wasserman on Inc. A Significant – and Growing – Problem.

Equity 44

Equity Vesting Cap Table Technical Review 44

Hippoland

APRIL 10, 2016

Dear elizy : I started a company in school with two co-founders. First off, whatever you decide, you should implement vesting. Standard vesting practices in the Silicon Valley at this time of writing are 4 year vesting with a 1 year cliff. Let’s call them Ada and Bob. 15% would be incredibly generous!

Cofounder 48

Cofounder Cap Table Equity Vesting 48

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2014

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup Founders dilemmas in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Should you start a company solo or find co-Founders to help you? The co-Founder relationship dilemma.

Hockey Stick 268

Hockey Stick Cofounder Entrepreneur Liquidity Event 268

Andrew Payne

SEPTEMBER 9, 2017

In practice, most equity grants within a company are driven by broad calibrations with existing employees. 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

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. 10-20% for employees. Be generous with shares to your employees, they are your capital and most important resource. But never give away shares without vesting. 60-70% for founders.

Management 120

Management Cofounder Startup Bootstrapping 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2017

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders dilemmas in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Should you start a company solo or find co-founders to help you? The co-founder relationship dilemma.

Hockey Stick 144

Hockey Stick Cofounder Entrepreneur Liquidity Event 144

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 252

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 252

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 22, 2010

It’s still important advice for startup founders and something that I’m passionate about. They make terrible employees. Why do job hoppers make such bad employees at startups? -. You’re a startup founder. You start fighting with your co-founder whom you thought you understood.

Hiring 392

Hiring Employee Vesting Silicon Valley 392

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. They fail to include vesting terms (i.e., Noam Wasserman on Inc. A Significant – and Growing – Problem.

Equity 28

Equity Vesting Cap Table Technical Review 28

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2013

Here are five of the most common examples: Failure to document a Founder agreement at the beginning. This oversight can lead to the so-called “forgotten Founder” problem. Trouble with the IRS over Founders stock value. Founders ignore non-compete clauses from former employers. Marty Zwilling.

Non-Compete 235

Non-Compete Accredited Investor Startup Cofounder 235

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 10, 2012

Here are five of the most common examples: Failure to document a Founder agreement at the beginning. This oversight can lead to the so-called “forgotten founder” problem. Trouble with the IRS over Founders stock value. Founders ignore non-compete clauses from former employers.

Non-Compete 249

Non-Compete Accredited Investor Cofounder Startup 249

The Next Web

JUNE 21, 2015

I felt like I read about their experiment with vested interest – personally, I could not imagine how a company could run with no managers. Nah, usually in the beginning, things like PR are done by the co-founders or whoever else has time. And for that very reason, I wanted to see Buffer make it work.

PR 60

PR Startup Software Review Technical Review 60

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

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 2, 2011

Here are five of the most common examples: Failure to document a founder agreement at the beginning. This oversight can lead to the so-called “forgotten founder” problem. Early co-founders often drop out of the picture due to disagreements, and you forget about them, but they don’t forget about the verbal promises you made.

Non-Compete 246

Non-Compete Accredited Investor Entrepreneur Cofounder 246

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Employee Benefits. Back in 1997, Randy Parker was staring at a blank whiteboard, wondering where hed find the money to hire the employees and consultants he needed to build his new product. "We a 50-employee provider of e-marketing solutions to small and midsize businesses, based in Needham, Mass. "We Business Taxes.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

Gust

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

This discussion expands on my Quora answer to a specific question: “ Why were the stock options of MySpace employees worthless even though the company was sold to News Corporation for hundreds of millions? ” The complete story includes a startup-within-a-startup, investments and exits by two VC firms, and some genuine corporate drama.

Valuation 98

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Merger Vesting 98

David Teten

OCTOBER 1, 2015

Should you co-found your company with a software development shop? intrapreneurs, e.g., the employee of GE who is tasked with launching a new business. intrapreneurs, e.g., the employee of GE who is tasked with launching a new business. The question is: how should they be compensated when cofounding a company? The cliffs?

Software Developers 60

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Technical Cofounder 60

blog.simeonov.com

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

Simeon, can you tell us how you structure ownership and control so you can fire your co-founders if necessary? The first part will dispel some myths, address the lifecycle of founder agreements and the key compensation and control parameters in them. Let’s start by dispelling some myths: There is a standard founder agreement.

Founder 44

Founder Vesting Agile Startup 44

Gust

DECEMBER 8, 2011

Likewise, founders can benefit from understanding basic characteristics of the overall legal structure, formation and governance documents, rights and responsibilities of team members, etc. Determine who will serve on the Board of Directors and in executive officer positions (usually founders). Offer letters for employees.

Intellectual Property 139

Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement Delaware Stock 139

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. Equity for Employees.

Equity 62

Equity Employee Founder CTO Hire 62

Scott Edward Walker

OCTOBER 27, 2015

We charge a flat fee of $2,000, plus filing fees, for up to three co-founders and it includes unlimited phone calls and emails. Thus, founders never have to worry about picking-up the phone and asking their lawyers questions. Indeed, we have done more than 300 Startup Packages and the appeal is obvious: no billable hours.

Intellectual Property 40

Intellectual Property Accredited Investor Vesting Delaware 40

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 19, 2010

Here are some examples: Failure to document a founder agreement at the beginning. This shortcut can lead to the so-called “forgotten founder” problem. Early co-founders often drop out of the picture due to disagreements, and you forget about them, but they don’t forget about the verbal promises you made.

Non-Compete 125

Non-Compete Accredited Investor Startup Cofounder 125

Business Plan Blog

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

Stage 2: Co-Founder. You do not have the funds to pay this person, so you decided to add them on as a co-founder. In reality, your company is probably worth close to nothing and your new co-founder is taking a huge risk. You bring someone in and quickly see the added value of this person. You need funding.

Equity 61

Equity Option Pool Cofounder Vesting 61

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 17, 2009

These periods of time can leave a founder very vulnerable in the future. These same people will join you and your one other co-founder (maximum) 6 months later when you’ve established the company, done your Powerpoint deck, built a prototype or product and started fund raising discussions. Founder vesting.

Founder Vesting 365

Founder Vesting Intellectual Property Stock Options IP 365

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

www.quora.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Type to Add and Search Questions; Search Topics and People Startups Startup Compensation Entrepreneurship Compensation Stock Options Major Internet Companies Silicon Valley Why is there such a large founder to early employee equity drop-off? Visibility at a Series D-funded company is much different than that at a seed-funded one.

Equity 40

Equity Employee Founder Cofounder 40

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 17, 2009

The meme was kicked off by Chris Dixon with this post saying that term sheets need to be simplified and align investor / founder interests. One very important item from Chris’s original post that wasn’t picked up by Fred or Brad is founder vesting. In my first company there was no vesting in the seed round.

Founder Vesting 252

Founder Vesting Vesting Founder Term Sheet 252