keen.io

FEBRUARY 5, 2013

How I negotiated my startup compensation. When I started thinking about joining Keen, I quickly realized there is a lot I don’t know about startups. For example: Don’t accept equity compensation (stock shares) without knowing the percentage of the company you’ll own. I knew enough to know I wanted to join a startup.

Salary 50

Salary Equity Startup San Francisco 50

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Startup Advice. As startup entrepreneurs we all want to work with them because having their name as reference clients makes it so much easier for marketing, PR, selling to other customers, fund raising and even recruiting. Large companies can be strange sometimes. Sometimes it actually does.

Warrant 298

Warrant Dilution Startup Stock Options 298

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

When convertible debt first started being introduced as a “faster, cheaper way to get startups funded” they didn’t have pricing built into them. In fact, most early investor work hard to help their startups get to the next level so it makes no sense for the angel investor and founders to be at odds.

Ratchet 354

Ratchet Liquidation Preference Equity Stock 354

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Startups and angels: Along the way to success.   A cumulative dividend can get to be very expensive and is not often a feature in early stage terms.   A full ratchet anti-dilution clause is very unfriendly to entrepreneurs; it requires them to make up the entire difference in price from their own holdings.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

www.payne.org

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Startup Equity For Employees. 2 Stock Classes: Common and Preferred. 3 Dilution. 5 Stock vs Options. 6 Founders / Restricted Stock. Important disclaimer: Ive got experience negotiating stock compensation packages from both sides of the table. Stock Classes: Common and Preferred.

Equity 56

Equity Employee Vesting Preferred Stock 56

Gust

OCTOBER 12, 2011

In my experience, a term of 12 to 24 months is common, with 12 months being on the short end. Particularly when there are multiple closings taking place over a period of months, the fuse burns awfully quickly on a 12-month note given the many competing priorities of early stage entrepreneurs.

Finance 107

Finance Term Sheet Pre-Money Valuation Early Stage 107

Gust

OCTOBER 21, 2011

For convertible notes, the only liquidity event we need be concerned with is an acquisition of the startup in the near future, before the maturity date; otherwise, the notes will convert to equity of one kind or another, and the eventual sale of that equity (in a public offering, acquisition, or private sale) is a different subject for another day.

Finance 79

Finance Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet Liquidity Event 79

The Startup Lawyer

FEBRUARY 4, 2011

Great news — your startup just got accepted to an incubator! But before your startup signs up and cashes that $[XX,000] check, your startup’s co-founders should sit down and evaluate the incubator’s offer. Pre-money valuations startups receive from incubators are typically low…really low.

Incubator 105

Incubator Pre-Money Valuation Option Pool Advisory Board 105

Scott Edward Walker

SEPTEMBER 21, 2011

A sophisticated angel investor understands how the startup game is played and the role that he plays. Finally, unless the startup is raising at least approximately $750,000, it generally is not in the company’s interest to issue shares of preferred stock. What about issuing shares of common stock?

Preferred Stock 45

Preferred Stock Angel Investor Entrepreneur Common Stock 45

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

Want to start a startup? A typical startup goes throughseveral rounds of funding, and at each round you want to take justenough money to reach the speed where you can shift into the nextgear. Few startups get it quite right. 1 ] A startups life will be more complicated, legally, if any of theinvestors arent accredited.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

Gust

MAY 24, 2012

As a quick review, most startups begin life as corporations with a single class of equity securities, referred to as Common Stock , issued to founders, employees, and outside service providers. Options and warrants, when issued, are also typically exercisable for shares of Common Stock.

IPO 159

IPO Equity Common Stock Stock 159

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

Since almost all startups do not possess traditional debt lenders, the list usually consists of data of the shareholders and the percentage they own. Furthermore, there are various forms of equity, such as preferred stock, common stock, and convertible notes, which influence the present and potential future investors.

Cap Table 112

Cap Table Pre-Money Valuation Stock Options Option Pool 112

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 29, 2013

Startups ask me “How much money should I ask for?” If your company is early stage and has a valuation under $1M, don’t ask for a $5M investment. Angels might be interested during “early stage” if you have a prototype, but VCs won’t bite until you have a product, customers, and revenue. Single or staged delivery.

Valuation 258

Valuation Early Stage Warrant Common Stock 258

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 9, 2010

Startups ask me “How much money should I ask for?” If your company is early stage and has a valuation under $1M, don’t ask for a $5M investment. Angels might be interested during “early stage” if you have a prototype, but VCs won’t bite until you have a product, customers, and revenue. Single or staged delivery.

Valuation 227

Valuation Early Stage Warrant Startup 227

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Startups ask me “How much money should I ask for?” If your company is early stage and has a valuation under $1M, don’t ask for a $5M investment. Angels might be interested during “early stage” if you have a prototype, but VCs won’t bite until you have a product, customers, and revenue. Single or staged delivery.

Valuation 236

Valuation Early Stage Warrant Common Stock 236

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2011

Startups ask me “How much money should I ask for?” If your company is early stage and has a valuation under $1M, don’t ask for a $5M investment. Angels might be interested during “early stage” if you have a prototype, but VCs won’t bite until you have a product, customers, and revenue. Single or staged delivery.

Entrepreneur 234

Entrepreneur Valuation Early Stage Warrant 234

Austin Startup

AUGUST 1, 2017

This is most clearly highlighted in the “unicorn” boom we all saw over the past few years, where founders raised very large rounds, with terms very onerous to the underlying common stock, hoping they could eventually justify billion dollar valuations to skeptical acquirers or public market investors. One Shot” incentives.

Liquidation Preference 48

Liquidation Preference Common Stock Valuation Silicon Valley 48

Startup Company Lawyer

JANUARY 9, 2011

Convertible debt with a price cap seems to be the preferred structure for early-stage financings. Over the last 12 months, I’ve noticed a trend where early-stage startup companies raise seed financings of between $250K and $1M using a convertible note with a price cap.

Liquidation Preference 57

Liquidation Preference Finance Preferred Stock Common Stock 57