Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 2, 2011

Jane and Dick, our fearless cofounders of SayAhh, have set up an accounting system and created their first set of financial statements. The founders each have common shares that will vest over four years. As first time entrepreneurs they did not create an employee options pool; we’ll fix that in a little while.

Cap Table 133

Cap Table CTO Hire Technical Cofounder Cofounder 133

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

Up and Running

MARCH 7, 2018

In my time, I learned a thing or two about the importance of preventing employee turnover. Aside from the time-consuming tasks of screening potential employees, interviewing, and re-hiring , losing and replacing employees is expensive. On average, it costs nearly three times an employee’s salary to replace them.

Employee 91

Employee Startup Salary Hiring 91

Eric Friedman

DECEMBER 27, 2021

4/ Streaming equity – venture funds + employee stock becomes more liquid. This is already happening, but there will be an explosion of rolling funds, operator angels, and micro investors who want to co-invest in friends, companies, and cohorts they are a part of. Maybe the founders are the micro VCs we have been waiting for?

Balance Sheet 97

Balance Sheet Stock Private Equity Option Pool 97

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2022

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.

Founder 325

Founder Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event 325

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 21, 2021

Suddenly, big tech companies such as Google and Facebook had foosball tables and Nespresso machines, stocked fridges and free snacks throughout the office. Plenty of businesses still practice this specific business model to captivate and maintain its employees, but it goes much deeper than that. Top four ways to engage employees.

Employee 167

Employee Business Model Chicago Equity 167

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Jeff Katzenberg has a great track record – head of the studio at Paramount, chairman of Disney Studios, co-founder of DreamWorks and now chairman of NewTV. With fewer than 10 employees but almost $2-billion dollars in the bank, they plan on jumping right in. ” Fire, Ready, Aim. He just hired Meg Whitman. And it may work.

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

fi.co

DECEMBER 4, 2012

Founder Feedback. Why a 50/50 Split is Almost Never Right for Co-Founders by @DaveParkerSEA. Founder Feedback gives you insights from the startup trenches. Applications to the Seattle Founder Institute are also due this Sunday, February 26th: click here to apply. "I . -->. -->. -->. Blog. on Feb 22, 2012.

Cofounder 43

Cofounder Founder Silicon Valley San Diego 43

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 11, 2017

Guest post by Jennifer Maerz, Program Chair of Lean Startup Co. Bootstrapper Pass - Offers the same benefits as the Silver Pass, but brings the cost of the conference down to $350 for people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend (think: fledgling solopreneurs, employees at very young startups, and small non-profits).

Lean 108

Lean Programming San Francisco Cofounder 108

David Teten

MARCH 14, 2018

Managers of VC funds typically want to grow their business aggressively, just like the founders we back. Among the sites we have found most helpful with practical guides for founders: Biztree , First Search , Foundersuite , Goodwin Founders Workbench , Guides.co , Inc.com , and StartupRocket. .

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Cofounder 60

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. Refactoring” organizational debt.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Salary Early Stage Software Review 120

YoungUpstarts

JULY 21, 2019

Make sure your employees and business still have the essentials. If you and your co-founder(s) are friends, why not work on your home instead? Collaboration programs make it easy to communicate with your employees and client online. Some websites offer free vector graphics, free icons, free stock photos, and more.

Software Review 191

Software Review Entrepreneur Cost Cofounder 191

Agile VC

APRIL 17, 2011

Kayak was started here in my backyard of Boston… co-founder & CTO Paul English and the product/engineering team is based here in Concord MA. Co-founder & CEO Steve Hafner and the business team are based in Norwalk, CT. 5) High Productivity: Kayak had 148 employees at the end of 2010. Author howerl.

Pre-Money Valuation 113

Pre-Money Valuation Liquidation Preference Dividend Common Stock 113

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

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

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

By Daniel Sokolovksy, Co-Founder and CEO, WARP and Troy Lester, Co-Founder and CRO, WARP The dissolution of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was more than just a bank collapse, it was a reality check for both startups and the VCs that fund them. As a founder, ask yourself – does your business actually warrant VC funding?

Early Stage 146

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 146

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 10, 2021

Paige Briscoe, founder of ReRoot. In my interview with Brain Berger , Founder and CEO of Mack Weldon, he told me how to approach this multichannel strategy: It’s about being really strategic around how you position your brand to your customer and what channels in which you do that. Do you want us to offer delivery?’ We did them.

eCommerce 155

eCommerce Cofounder Community Channel 155

Hearpreneur

SEPTEMBER 9, 2022

Airbnb founders Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia had difficulty securing funding, so they launched a mini project to build some funds and catch investors' attention. Using this capital , the founders launched and enjoyed exponential growth in their first year, with 10K users and thousands of listings. Photo Credit: Jack Underwood.

Entrepreneur 97

Entrepreneur Bankruptcy Southern California South Africa 97

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

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2019

To avoid the tax implications of co-mingling personal and business funds and assets, create your business entity before you hire anyone or spend money building the product. File founder stock election so no taxes are due until exit. Additionally, I recommend that you review and update co-founder ownership agreements annually.

LLC 210

LLC Limited Liability Company Cofounder Preferred Stock 210

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

The Next Web

AUGUST 12, 2013

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Christian Reber, CEO and co-founder of Berlin-based 6Wunderkinder. Define how you want to motivate your employees every day to produce high-quality and industry-leading results. Many founders don’t deal well with people leaving, but I am probably one of the worst.

Cofounder 119

Cofounder CTO Hire Startup Europe 119

YoungUpstarts

JULY 17, 2020

by Juan Pablo Segura, President and Co-Founder of Babyscripts. Are you paying money for SaaS services that are no longer relevant or can be taken on by employees? Support Your Employees. Often you are asking your employees to do more for less, and it’s imperative that they feel valued and supported.

Startup 287

Startup Wisconsin Stock Options Dividend 287

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. Otherwise, if one of the founders quits after a few months, he would take all of his shares with him. In short, this is a nightmare scenario – particularly if there is bad blood with the other co-founders.

Vesting 89

Vesting Software Review IP Intellectual Property 89

The Next Web

OCTOBER 10, 2013

Two more entrepreneurial ventures later, Gleb cofounded online backup provider Backblaze to help consumers affordably, automatically, and safely back up their data. What are the pros and cons of starting a business alone versus with cofounders? How many founders are too many? Hire everyone you need as an employee.

Cofounder 143

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Kenya Dilution 143

Up and Running

JANUARY 21, 2015

Walmart asks its employees to purchase their own uniforms. This year, Walmart employees are required to purchase new clothing to be able to work in the stores. What does that mean for those employees? When or if your company makes a mistake and customers or employees are telling you they want change, listen.

Technical Cofounder 60

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Ohio Houston 60

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 2, 2011

It’s a lot like investing in the stock market — once everyone else starts jumping on the bandwagon, you’ve missed the window. The “benevolent” part means always putting the entity, the employees, and, most importantly, the customer, first. And if you don’t strike now, someone else just might beat you to it. Take a chance.

Cofounder 154

Cofounder Vermont Ohio Brazil 154

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

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 10, 2016

Funding challenges and other issues founders face in the early days of starting up were the focus of interviews with the latest guests on Entrepreneurs are Everywhere , my radio show on SiriusXM Channel 111 (airing weekly Thursdays at 1 pm Pacific, 4 pm Eastern). Will Zell , co-founder and CEO of Nikola Labs wireless power company.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Ohio Columbus Entrepreneur 120

Hearpreneur

APRIL 12, 2019

Being a co-founder of a real estate investment company allows me to set my own objectives, determine my work hours, and reap the rewards of my actions. No matter how well my team did I knew that at the end of the year I would earn a predetermined salary with a small bonus that was based on the company stock performance.

Entrepreneur 128

Entrepreneur St. Louis Florida Colorado 128

Hippoland

APRIL 10, 2016

Dear elizy : I started a company in school with two co-founders. This means that you earn your stock ownership linearly over the period of 4 years. After 1 year, you earn 25% and thereafter, you earn the remaining stock on a monthly basis. If you leave before the completion of the first year, you own zero stock.

Cofounder 48

Cofounder Cap Table Equity Vesting 48

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

DECEMBER 21, 2009

Okay okay, "Planning == Bad," but the supposed benefits of planning are still important: designing for profitability, understanding your customers and competitors, focusing your attention, deciding what's worth doing next, changing directions, and ensuring the founders agree on important issues. Cartoon by Andertoons. It could be an intern.

Startup 315

Startup Revenue Cofounder Sales 315

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 19, 2019

by Cody McLain , founder of SupportNinja and author of “ From Foster Care to Millionaire: A Young Entrepreneur’s Story of Tragedy and Triumph ”. As you go about your day, take stock of every piece of email you receive. TimeCamp — never lose sight of how employees spend their days. That’s great! To-do lists.

Management 127

Management Email Global Employee 127

www.entrepreneur.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Determining how to value sweat equity is key when negotiating with investors and employees. When you're getting started, sweat equity is often a critical component of your negotiating leverage with co-founders, early stage employees and others who aren't paid market wages to help you grow your business.

Sweat Equity 55

Sweat Equity Equity Fractional CTO CTO 55

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

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

The stock market clearly values companies that can deliver disruptive innovation. Some companies use a suggestion box, others like Google give employees 20% of their time to work on their own projects. And to keep executing large organizations hire employees with a range of skills and competencies. This never ends well.

Private Equity 328

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 328

Berkonomics

JANUARY 7, 2021

Two: Co-management. So, co-management is the second group to share in the bounty upon a liquidity event. The third group is made of the total number and types of investors, other than the founder(s). It is the old story of “100% of nothing is worth far less than 10% of a large number.”. Three: Outside investors.

Liquidity Event 96

Liquidity Event Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder Initial Public Offering 96