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What’s a Fair 409A Discount?

VC Adventure

Most boards did some level of work to determine the FMV of a company’s stock but generally options were priced between 10% and 15% of a company’s then preferred price (because common equity sits behind preferred equity there is typically a discount applied to the FMV of common stock to account for this “overhang”).

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How to Form a Corporation

Up and Running

Having both will add cost, but they should also add significant peace of mind to your work throughout this process. In addition to those two types of hired help, you can get free guidance and support from a local SBDC consultant. Your choice here is to either hire an agent or be your own. Name your registered agent.

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Startup Stock Options – Why A Good Deal Has Gone Bad

Steve Blank

Startup employees calculated that a) their hard work could change the odds and b) someday the stock options they were vesting might make them into millionaires. And just to make sure you were in the company for at least a year, with most stock option plans, unless you stayed an entire year, you wouldn’t vest any stock.

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How to Fund Your Startup Without Losing Control

Up and Running

They allow you to hire more people, purchase new technology, and establish new business connections, among many other benefits. That is to say, they’d want to be able to control costs and revenues at a high level. Capital investments are like gasoline on a startup business’s metaphorical fire.

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Should Entrepreneurs Attend Business School?

Up and Running

C Corp versus LLC, non-competes, liquidation preferences, preferred versus common stock, and so on). By the time of their restaurant’s grand opening, they were able to build a brand around their restaurant, perfect their menu, and develop a clear understanding of their operating costs.

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Should You Offer Equity Compensation to Employees?

Up and Running

Typically, employers that offer employees equity compensation will do so in the form of common stock, preferred stock, or stock options. This type of stock is typically given to founders and early employees with the stock value is near zero. See Also: 10 Tips for Dealing With Startup Stock Options.

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Why Uber is The Revenge of the Founders

Steve Blank

Hire a CEO to Go Public. The VCs would hire a CEO with a track record who looked and acted like the type of CEO Wall Street bankers expected to see in large companies. The role of the independent member was typically to tell the founding CEO that the VCs were hiring a new CEO.). People had to actually pay you for your product.

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