article thumbnail

What is convertible equity (or a convertible security)?

Startup Company Lawyer

Quick answer: convertible equity (or a convertible security) is convertible debt without the repayment feature at maturity or interest. Over the past few years, convertible debt has emerged as a quick and inexpensive method for startup companies to raise money from angel investors and early stage venture funds.

article thumbnail

The Legal Side of Entrepreneurship

YoungUpstarts

This article highlights their advice on issues ranging from financing to patent trolls: While startups may believe lawyers are too costly, working with one early on avoids potentially serious problems later. They also need to decide whether to structure terms as an equity deal or a convertible security deal.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

A primer on convertible notes, convertible securities, and equity

Hippoland

In the 1990s, your first round of financing was typically a Series A round between $1m-$5m. Expenses were a lot higher just to get a company off the ground, so even the first round of financing was large. Convertible Securities So as a happy medium, both YC and 500 Startups created Convertible Securities.

article thumbnail

Convertible Debt: Worst Form Of Seed Financing — Except For All The Others

Gust

How to finance a new seed-stage startup? Convertible debt? Convertible equity? As of August 2010, Paul Graham famously proclaimed , “Convertible notes have won. Every investment so far in this YC batch (and there have been a lot) has been done on a convertible note.”

Finance 134
article thumbnail

Raising Startup Capital Through Convertible Debt Financing

Business Plan Blog

The first milestone in a new startup’s financing is called ‘Seed Capital’ which refers to the initial investment raised by the founders from their friends and family, or commonly referred to as FFF (Friends, Family and Founders), who mostly use their personal assets. *The Convertible Debt Financing. Raising Seed Capital.

Finance 93
article thumbnail

More Tech Startups are LLCs

Austin Startup

C-Corp largely because (i) VCs have historically favored C-Corps for nuanced tax and other reasons, and (ii) virtually all of the standardized legal infrastructure around startup finance and equity compensation assumes a C-Corp. However, times are changing. It requires real financial, tax, legal, etc.

article thumbnail

Knowledge Is Power: Convertible Note Financing Terms, Part II

Gust

Last week , we gave some attention to the “why” behind convertible note financing for early stage startups. As with so many subjects in law and finance, mastering the jargon is half the battle. This may seem like a no-brainer now that you understand the basic structure of a convertible debt financing.

Finance 79