Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

If you’re a startup and you don’t have a close relationship with a few law firms you’re really missing one of the most important relationships that any entrepreneur can have. I write about some of the lessons in my post on Startup Mistakes. I know that people have an allergy to lawyers out of fear of being screwed.

Southern California 318

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

Up and Running

MARCH 7, 2018

I spent years as a manager at a startup company. Aside from the time-consuming tasks of screening potential employees, interviewing, and re-hiring , losing and replacing employees is expensive. On average, it costs nearly three times an employee’s salary to replace them. Hire the right people. Here is how to do it.

Employee 91

Employee Startup Salary Hiring 91

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

There are certain topics that even some of the smartest people I talk with who aren’t startup oriented can’t fully grok. It’s common cocktail party chatter to hear people confidently pronounce that some well known startup is sure to blow up because, “How could they succeed when they’re not even profitable!” What did they actually do?

Stock Options 227

Stock Options Startup Dilution Venture Capital 227

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2010

My original post was directed at hiring managers. It said that I didn’t believe it was a good idea to hire job hoppers. My view still stands – for many hiring managers a large factor in looking through resumes of somebody who is 30+ and has never worked somewhere for more than 18 months will be the job hopping element.

Venture Capital 285

Venture Capital Hiring Software Review Stock Options 285

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. So what does an early-stage company do to avoid the doom and gloom plaguing the world of startups?

Early Stage 115

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 115

Up and Running

JULY 2, 2014

Picking the right attorney in your startup is as important as picking the right business partner. My business partner and I made many mistakes in our first tech startup, and so many of them were the result of choosing a lawyer who was a terrible fit. Let me paint the picture for you: We were about two months into our startup idea.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Angel Investor Due Diligence Dilution 118

Up and Running

DECEMBER 1, 2015

If however you are giving a “normal employee” an incentive stock option plan (more on that later), that’s entirely different. Make sure you understand all of your options before making any decisions. When business owners decide to go down the route of equity compensation, there are two primary options to choose between.

Equity 60

Equity Employee Stock Options Vesting 60

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

It’s such a tricky balance between being cost-focused & scrappy versus being impractical with how you spend your time. For a well-funded seed company I have controversially recommended hiring a great office manager that doubles as an administrative assistant. Great startups have budgets. And so must you.

Operations 150

Operations Metrics Early Stage Non-Compete 150

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 24, 2017

Make sure you take care of these four legal things before launching your startup. There will be additional filing and operation costs for these entities, due to tax, accounting and legal issues. Converting will come at a higher cost. If you plan to hire employees, make sure that you have the appropriate documentation.

LLC 168

LLC Startup Stock Options Cofounder 168

VC Adventure

AUGUST 15, 2018

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”).

Valuation 48

Valuation Common Stock Cap Table Software Review 48

View from Seed

AUGUST 6, 2015

When someone goes to work for an early startup, the compensation package general includes an annual salary, health insurance, and, instead of fixed-cost performance upside, a percentage of unvested options to purchase equity in the company. What’s the strike price ($ value per) of the options I’m being granted?

Equity 120

Equity Employee Cap Table Stock Options 120

View from Seed

AUGUST 6, 2015

When someone goes to work for an early startup, the compensation package general includes an annual salary, health insurance, and, instead of fixed-cost performance upside, a percentage of unvested options to purchase equity in the company. What’s the strike price ($ value per) of the options I’m being granted?

Equity 120

Equity Employee Cap Table Stock Options 120

Gust

APRIL 9, 2014

Over time, other people receive pieces of equity in exchange for work (employee stock options), money (seed, angel and venture investors), services (attorneys, directors, etc.). Uncategorized company equity dilution founder investors startup' original post can be found on Quora @ [link] *.

Dilution 150

Dilution Equity Vesting Stock Options 150

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 7, 2016

The result is a framework to help decide whether a startup is viable. Another good answer is previous success by the team at startups, or at executing complex projects together. Why is “right now” the best time to create this startup? Why should you build this startup in your current location? Who → Why you?

San Francisco 170

San Francisco Startup Framework Azure 170

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 10, 2015

He had a stock option vesting program and had vested a significant amount of his stock but not all. He’s suing the company to get all of his stock options even though he signed a vesting agreement. I started writing about problems when founding a startup years ago but the problem has gotten worse.

Vesting 150

Vesting Cofounder IP Stock Options 150

Startup Company Lawyer

MAY 1, 2009

CEOs or CFOs of startups in the US, China, India, Israel, or the UK in the technology or life science industry should consider taking the survey. Participants who complete the survey will receive the full results at no cost. . Publish at Scribd or explore others: Law & Government Business & Law startup equity.

Stock Options 31

Stock Options CTO Hire Equity 31

www.joelonsoftware.com

MARCH 24, 2010

When we decide to hire someone, the interviewers who were involved in the "hire" decision will sit down with the candidates resume and salary history and figure out what level they will start at. However, we will have: Cost of living adjustments for different markets. Once a year well grant people more stock options.

Software Review 48

Software Review Stock Options Salary Technical Review 48

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

Scalable Startup

AUGUST 9, 2018

I get approached often by tech startups looking for their first outside funding. This article is based on my experiences and the typical mistakes I see every week in startup land. High growth startup companies need seed money to get things going. Without funding most tech startups will die. high growth. Capital = Growth.

Technical Cofounder 20

Technical Cofounder Silicon Valley Early Stage Cofounder 20

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, September 8, 2009 What would you want to tell Washington DC about startups? Beyond just those who will be hearing about the lean startup for the first time, Im expecting to shake a lot of hands and have a lot of interesting side conversations. And what hurdles could be eliminated?

DC 90

DC Washington San Francisco SBIR 90

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

Thomas Clayton has started and run numerous high-tech startups in Silicon Valley. He is currently CEO of Bubbly, a social media startup backed by Sequoia Capital, SingTel Innov8, and JAFCO. The company is one of the largest VC-backed startups in Southeast Asia, having raised over $60 million in funding.

Silicon Valley 121

Silicon Valley Asia Engineer Stock Options 121

Reid Hoffman

DECEMBER 10, 2020

And if the reference checks come back positively, then if I believe at startup is a good opportunity, I can lean in right away. However, this course of action would have cost the company something even more important–the trust of its guests and hosts. The company also complemented this financial support with emotional support.

Hosting 69

Hosting Hockey Stick IPO Silicon Valley 69

Up and Running

OCTOBER 13, 2022

Employee retention, for both startups and established businesses, is more important than ever. An ESOP, or an employee stock ownership plan, is a type of compensation plan that allows employees to acquire and own stock in your company. Remember, an ESOP is not the best option for every business. Get a 409a valuation.

Vesting 88

Vesting Stock Valuation Stock Options 88

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

A detailed financial model that shows your anticipated revenue, costs and profits (Income Statement) as well as your balance sheet and cashflow statements. The buyer is shopping for equity in startups and the seller is looking for cash in exchange for equity and shared governing control of his or her company.

Cap Table 336

Cap Table Due Diligence Forecast Churn Rate 336

ithacaVC

JUNE 20, 2011

Cost is the overriding issue for startups when it comes to properly engaging a lawyer. My general retort on this point is this: expect to incur real lawyer costs and get over it. Lawyer time required: 5 to 10 hours dependent on how fast you are hiring. Lawyer time required: 3 to 6 hours.

Stock Options 58

Stock Options Vesting Subscription Agreement Founder Vesting 58

Ben's Blog

APRIL 28, 2010

The conventional wisdom says a startup CEO should make way for a professional CEO once the company has achieved product-market fit. Salmon points out that “not a single one of the 12 [candidates] is a CEO who was hired to run a company by its board of directors.”. Knowledge of every product and technology decision that gets made.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 78

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Advisor. ); STARTUP. Back in 1997, Randy Parker was staring at a blank whiteboard, wondering where hed find the money to hire the employees and consultants he needed to build his new product. "We That cost him accounting fees, legal fees, and time because the financing round couldnt close until the arrangements were formalized.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

Eric Friedman

JUNE 11, 2019

Whether a fundraising event, hiring, or sales/partnership opportunity- these can be especially useful to make all parties move faster. Typically a startup wants a POC with a LargeCo. Candidate Forcing Functions – are hard because you want to hire the best people, hire them fast, and keep your OpEx low.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Stock Options Early Stage Agile 68

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 15, 2012

Tech startups need more than a great idea and breakthrough technology - they need a team of committed developers who will stick with them through iteration after iteration. Most tech startups think they can attract developers with cool perks and a promise to ship great code. Too many startups are stingy with equity.

Developer 130

Developer Equity Ruby Cofounder 130

infochachkie.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Be The Beatles Not The Flock Of Seagulls John Greathouse’s Bio ConTraps Part 2 ConTrap Part 3 ConTrap part 4 Startup Children Pt 2 Startup Children Pt 5 Startup Children Pt 3 Startup Children Pt 4 Decision Making 101 Talks: Jason Nazar on how to Persuade. Hands-on startup advice for emerging entrepreneurs.

Equity 40

Equity Silicon Valley Cofounder PR 40

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 18, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series, “ Startup Lessons.&#. What if you have to make really tough calls on cutting costs, biz dev deals, fund raising and you violently disagree on direction? What if the person performs OK, but not great and you need to hire above him? Should he/she keep 50%? Who prevails?

Founder 251

Founder Cofounder Equity Stock Options 251

chrischandler.name

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

.&# All the engineers I trust to execute a project swiftly, professionally and with quality, especially under startup conditions, will not touch an upfront equity deal with a 10-foot pole. They understand not only the value of their abilities, but that they could just as easily band together and make their own startup.

Equity 40

Equity Developer Entrepreneur Syndicate 40

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

When they rep you, the marginal cost of them trying to get you a slightly better deal is high for them relative to settling and moving on. On balance I usually prefer to recruit people from my network both in terms of saving costs as well as hiring people I know & trust. They hold out. They wait for a better offer.

Term Sheet 319

Term Sheet PR Liquidation Preference Stock Options 319

venturehacks.com

MARCH 21, 2008

Venture Hacks Good advice for startups. Advisor compensation Whether you’re hiring a normal advisor or super advisor: Advisory shares are usually issued as common stock options. The options typically vest monthly over 1-2 years with 100% single-trigger acceleration and no cliff. See Part 1 for the rest.

Advisory Board 44

Advisory Board Cap Table Vesting Equity 44

www.payne.org

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Startup Equity For Employees. 2 Stock Classes: Common and Preferred. 5 Stock vs Options. 6 Founders / Restricted Stock. The re-heating of the venture funded tech market has pushed a heat up of the hiring market, and Im getting more calls from friends asking for help understanding startup stock (equity) offers.

Equity 56

Equity Employee Vesting Preferred Stock 56

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Problem was, I seemed to suck at the whole startup thing. Rather, I didn’t have anyone around me familiar enough with startups to tell me that I was doing it all wrong. One of the things I do as a founder of a later stage startup is to meet with early stage entrepreneurs to help them get their companies going. No phone system.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 84

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 11, 2014

That’s exactly my point is you’re up against either startups with funding or just entrenched names that have just been around a long time and have a ton of customers and brand value. That is always true for all startups until they get old, right? Jason: Exactly. I’m sure it’s true across the board.

Technical Cofounder 220

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Review Management 220