The Equity Kicker

NOVEMBER 9, 2016

I just read a New York Times article that led with the sentence “Deep inside a Silicon Valley unicorn lurks a time bomb”. Additionally, they introduce a small amount of complexity and an element of misalignment between the investor and the common stock holder (usually the founder).

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Liquidation Preference Silicon Valley Participating Preferred Common Stock 122

www.mattbartus.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

A View from the Valley. Perspectives on issues affecting founders, startups and investors from a veteran startup lawyer in Silicon Valley. First, you’d probably want them to receive common stock, not preferred stock (which is the likely next round). Blog blog archive. Quora Answers.

Equity 40

Equity Vesting Silicon Valley Intellectual Property 40

Startup Company Lawyer

APRIL 23, 2009

The driving beliefs behind the Institute are that (1) great founders are often overlooked by the current entrepreneurial ecosystem, and that (2) innovative startups have a dramatic positive effect on the global economy. The COI includes Class A common stock, which has one vote per share, and Class F common stock, which has 10 votes per share.

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Common Stock Stock Dividend Delaware 33

Austin Startup

OCTOBER 18, 2017

Because by an order of magnitude Silicon Valley has the most startups, VCs, large exits, etc., the majority of the content available online for founders to educate themselves comes from Silicon Valley. Apart from YC itself, Silicon Valley already is an aberration among startup ecosystems.

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Silicon Valley Los Angeles Angel Investor Common Stock 48

Business Plan Blog

NOVEMBER 13, 2013

Most startup founders do not have enough capital to launch their companies and need to raise money at some point. Individual investors who provide financial funding to startups are called ‘Angel Investors.’ Some well-known Silicon Valley angel groups are Band of Angels, Sandhill Angels, TIE angels and others. *The

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Finance Accredited Investor Angel Investor Seed Capital 93

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2013

For the past 5 years or so Google, Facebook and a handful of tech industry giants have been quietly buying scores of early-stage startups for their talent. A couple of tech giants throw millions around in either cash (for which they have hoards) or part with some publicly traded stock. Go do a startup. Startup Advice'

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Liquidation Preference Early Stage Retention Lock-up Period 357

ReadWriteStart

MAY 8, 2012

Approaching investors for the first time is a daunting exercise for any startup. The best way to do that is to leverage the hard-won experience of real-world startup. Turns out that while every startup is unique, they share some common difficulties in trying to find just the right strategies and tactics for funding their companies: 1.

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Cofounder Startup San Francisco Silicon Valley 140

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

. — Unremarked and unheralded, the balance of power between startup CEOs and their investors has radically changed: IPOs/M&A without a profit (or at times revenue) have become the norm. The startup process has become demystified – information is everywhere. Board Control. And while new markets were created (i.e.

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Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 245

Scott Edward Walker

SEPTEMBER 21, 2011

A sophisticated angel investor understands how the startup game is played and the role that he plays. We networked to him through three sources – one of my [Harvard Business School] professors who knew him well, a Silicon Valley CEO friend of Michael’s who knew him, and a Fortune 500 CEO with whom Michael was friendly.

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Preferred Stock Angel Investor Entrepreneur Common Stock 45

Professor VC

JULY 25, 2013

It is the story of the founding of the venture capital industry in Silicon Valley and features many of the iconic companies created including Apple, Intel, Genentech and Cisco. Startup outcomes tend to be very binary. Angel Investors Silicon Valley term sheets venture financing venture capital'

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Term Sheet Silicon Valley Syndicate Syndication 46

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. I recently wrote a post noting that while the growth cycle of startups has clearly accelerated in the last 5 years, the number of truly monster new businesses (a company ultimately worth $75-100B) remains about the same … it’s a once in a decade sort of thing. February 2, 2012.

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IPO South Korea Venezuela Revenue 100

The Next Web

JUNE 15, 2012

From Silicon Valley to Peoria, Illinois, cash-strapped startups look for inventive way to finance their business – often handing out equity to employees, consultants, vendors, and other service providers. Speed is often of the essence early on in the startup lifecycle, and that often means rushing into casual arrangements.

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Equity Stock Options Vesting Stock 116

Austin Startup

AUGUST 1, 2017

While I work with a few companies in Silicon Valley, the vast majority of my clients are either in Austin or ecosystems that look much more like Austin than SV; “second tier” tech communities. Listen to enough VCs at large firms w/ broad portfolios talk about startup finance, and you will inevitably hear the term “power law” come up.

Liquidation Preference 48

Liquidation Preference Common Stock Valuation Silicon Valley 48

Professor VC

MARCH 12, 2015

The above was the opening salvo of a controversial tweetstorm yesterday by my former student and 500 Startups founding partner, Dave McClure (full venom below). As with all M&A exits, there was a round of congratulatory messages to the founder in the Silicon Valley echo chamber.

Syndicate 28

Syndicate Syndication Silicon Valley Common Stock 28

venturehacks.com

OCTOBER 21, 2010

Venture Hacks Good advice for startups. This reverse dilution benefits all classes of stock proportionally even though the common stock holders paid for all of the initial dilution in the first place! Use a hiring plan to justify a small option pool, increase your share price, and increase your effective valuation.

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Option Pool Pre-Money Valuation Dilution Warrant 68