Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2014

Thus I was happy to see a new book, “ The Tech Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide ,” by Bernd Schoner, PhD, and cofounder of ThingMagic, which leans heavily on the people side of the equation. It just means that the cofounders trust one of their own and are willing to follow. A sales fanatic on the founder team helps to contain that risk.

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Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Startup 245

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2015

Thus I was happy to see a recent book, “ The Tech Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide ,” by Bernd Schoner, PhD, and cofounder of ThingMagic, which leans heavily on the people side of the equation. It just means that the cofounders trust one of their own and are willing to follow. The industry veteran. The financial suit.

Technical Cofounder 120

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Stock Options 120

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. He just hired Meg Whitman. Startups wrote business plans, generated expansive 5-year forecasts and executed (hired, spent and built) to the plan. The result?

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Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

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. . – Hire more Partners.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Cofounder 60

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 11, 2017

Guest post by Jennifer Maerz, Program Chair of Lean Startup Co. For eight years, our flagship conference has focused on sharing stories and lessons of putting Lean Startup’s entrepreneurial methodology into practice. 31 ( limited to the first 200 Gold Passholders.) 31 ( limited to the first 200 Gold Passholders.) Sign up for free here.

Lean 108

Lean Programming San Francisco Cofounder 108

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.

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Cost Non-Compete Accredited Investor Cofounder 363

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

They have totally changed the way you run a VC firm, investing heavily in systems & events for their founders that are pushing the boundaries of the way our industry works. The discussion with Howard Morgan starts off by acknowledging Josh Kopelman as a co-founder of First Round Capital. I'm a huge fan of this innovation.

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Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review Cofounder Cram Down 284

YoungUpstarts

JULY 21, 2019

If you and your co-founder(s) are friends, why not work on your home instead? Some websites offer free vector graphics, free icons, free stock photos, and more. The best way to avoid this is by covering all your legal bases by hiring an attorney. Hire a professional. Get an executive suite or coworking space.

Software Review 191

Software Review Entrepreneur Cost Cofounder 191

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 10, 2021

Paige Briscoe, founder of ReRoot. Do you need to hire additional staff to complete the drop-offs? We’re seeing about a 70 to 75 conversion rate from appointments in terms of purchase ,” said Joanna Griffiths , Founder and CEO. Do you want us and want us to offer curbside pickup? Do you want us to offer delivery?’

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eCommerce Cofounder Community Channel 155

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 5, 2022

Like Paul Graham , founder of Y-Combinator, said a long time ago, I see startups succeed or fail every day based primarily on the qualities of the founders. The economy has some effect, but as a predictor of success it’s a rounding error compared to the founders. It's hard to hire good people because they already have a job.

Startup 258

Startup Cofounder Salary Advertising 258

Steve Blank

MAY 19, 2015

While he kept bringing the conversation back to their big valuation I tried to steer the conversation back to how they were going to deal with: training the influx of new hires – in both culture and job specific tasks. retaining their existing hires who were working for intern-like salaries with little equity. the company had.

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Technical Review Salary Early Stage Software Review 120

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. I think an issue many talented entrepreneurs and European founders (especially German founders) have is, they don’t think big enough. Find the right co-founders and advisors.

Cofounder 119

Cofounder CTO Hire Startup Europe 119

Duct Tape Marketing

JULY 27, 2023

He is the founder of Nudge, an analytics company, that was a commercialized product from his agency. Prior to Nudge, he co-founded an agency in New Zealand that was the 8th fastest-growing business at the time. He's the founder of Nudge, an analytics company that was started as a commercial venture or product from his own agency.

Cofounder 57

Cofounder Artificial Inteligence New Zealand Analytics 57

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Should I trust my instincts for founders and products or should I be more focused on the market size or business plan? Otherwise you’re a stock picker, which in this business isn’t a good thing. ” As far as “terms” go I’m 100% aligned to have the most vanilla, founder-friendly terms I can.

Early Stage 361

Early Stage Deal Flow Investment Bankers Technical Review 361

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. Hire a CEO to Go Public. A pre-IPO board usually had two founders, two VCs and one “independent” member.

Founder 252

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 252

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. We have no money – so we’re going to do the legal ourselves. (And please don’t tell us to hire a lawyer.) Otherwise, if one of the founders quits after a few months, he would take all of his shares with him.

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Vesting Software Review IP Intellectual Property 89

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2010

years ago and told me, “I just got offered the chance to buy this company because the founder doesn’t want to continue. Sometimes this involves co-CEO’s. My version is, “you have a company with private stock. Somebody else is trying to convince you to sell to them in exchange for all stock.

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Merger Technical Review Early Stage Dilution 276

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 119

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 119

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.

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Silicon Valley Ohio Columbus Entrepreneur 120

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. Don’t wait for that first investor or prototype.

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LLC Limited Liability Company Cofounder Preferred Stock 210

Hearpreneur

SEPTEMBER 9, 2022

Hiring an expert or a coach to walk you through this stage can help you minimize the chances of failure although identifying the problem first can be a great way to create a long-lasting strategy. Using this capital , the founders launched and enjoyed exponential growth in their first year, with 10K users and thousands of listings.

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Entrepreneur Bankruptcy Southern California South Africa 97

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Should I trust my instincts for founders and products or should I be more focused on the market size or business plan? Otherwise you’re a stock picker, which in this business isn’t a good thing. ” As far as “terms” go I’m 100% aligned to have the most vanilla, founder-friendly terms I can.

Deal Flow 347

Deal Flow Early Stage Investment Bankers Technical Review 347

Steve Blank

MAY 20, 2010

This partner lived up to his reputation and helped us hire an experienced, world-class CEO from a large consulting company that we thought would be the guy to take our company to a billion dollars (think Internet-bubble Kool-aid.). You’re Just the Founders. You’re just the founders.” Founder-friendly VCs” do exist.

Founder 276

Founder Cofounder Salary Naming 276

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 25, 2011

The issue was that for the last two weeks in August, there were no VCs around to pitch, no distribution partners to meet with for biz dev deals, and seemingly no one else around actually working for me, the non-technical co-founder to push ahead toward milestones. Build up the top of your hiring funnel. Get your PR pitches out.

Technical Review 114

Technical Review Software Review PR Cofounder 114

Up and Running

MARCH 7, 2018

Aside from the time-consuming tasks of screening potential employees, interviewing, and re-hiring , losing and replacing employees is expensive. Hire the right people. This may seem obvious, but it’s worth mentioning: the best way to ensure that employees don’t leave your new company is to hire the right people to begin with.

Employee 91

Employee Startup Salary Hiring 91

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

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

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

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 18, 2009

Yesterday I wrote a blog post ( here ) in which I urged people to not have too many founders. What if the person performs OK, but not great and you need to hire above him? These situations are only compounded if you have 3 or more founders. They agreed to all be co-founders. Who prevails? That’s great.

Founder 251

Founder Cofounder Equity Stock Options 251

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 22, 2010

It’s still important advice for startup founders and something that I’m passionate about. I never hire job hoppers. You’re a startup founder. You have tough choices to make about whom you hire on your team. You start fighting with your co-founder whom you thought you understood.

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Hiring Employee Vesting Silicon Valley 392

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 30, 2019

Like Paul Graham , founder of Y-Combinator, said a long time ago, I see startups succeed or fail every day based primarily on the qualities of the founders. The economy has some effect, but as a predictor of success it’s a rounding error compared to the founders. It's hard to hire good people because they already have a job.

Cofounder 200

Cofounder Washington Salary Advertising 200

Startup Company Lawyer

MAY 4, 2009

Adeo Ressi , the founding member of TheFunded , recently announced the establishment of TheFunded Founder Institute. The Founder Institute helps founders launch innovative companies by providing training, services, and company-building assignments, such as incorporating the business, filing provision patents, and setting up books and records.

Founder 28

Founder Warrant San Francisco Intellectual Property 28

Berkonomics

JANUARY 7, 2021

Two: Co-management. Few entrepreneurs can do it alone, with subordinate hired help and no expert management to share the burdens, skill sets, and efforts involved in growing the enterprise. So, co-management is the second group to share in the bounty upon a liquidity event. Three: Outside investors. Reward for early risk.

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Liquidity Event Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder Initial Public Offering 96

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

We all know that we use renewal to be thoughtful about our futures so why not take the time this week to take stock in where you want to be a year from now and what steps you could take personally to make a difference. Most founders have a strong sense of what they’re trying to achieve. A Sense of Purpose.

Leadership 150

Leadership Southern California San Diego Hiring 150

VC Cafe

JULY 4, 2022

Venture Capital Feels the Stock Market’s Pain, Wall Street Journal. Remote hires represent the majority in the US in H1 2022. In 2019, about 35% of new hires were based in a different state than the primary company headquarters. Remote hires are now the majority in the US (source: Carta). VC funds invested about $47.5

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Venture Capital Valuation Private Equity LP 167

Up and Running

AUGUST 17, 2015

Legal Aspects of Entrepreneurship: While the exact title and contents of this class may vary depending on the business school you attend, as a first time founder, it’s incredibly important to understand all of the legal considerations around starting your own company (e.g., See Also How to Find a Business Partner.

Entrepreneur 60

Entrepreneur Cofounder Angel Investor eCommerce 60

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

by Chris Bray , founder and CEO of Bray Innovation Group . Without daredevils of change and founders of future greatness, we’d be centuries behind in terms of progress, and the world would be a pretty boring place. Finally, I reached a point when I felt like the company and my personal stock had peaked. Probably not.

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Cofounder Angel Investor Stock Founder 178