Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2020

So the first question I usually get is what percent of the company or equity is that person worth? Just because it was your idea doesn’t mean you “deserve” 90% of the equity. The value in a startup is all about tangible results, so I see no equity value in the idea alone. Level of responsibility and time allocated.

Cofounder 435

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Equity Intellectual Property 435

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 2, 2011

This week they set out to create their cap table and hire a CTO. The vesting schedule protects each of the co-founders in case one gets hit by a bus or decides to drop the project after a short period of time. Equity is split 55% and 45%, but where is that officially recorded? Time to update the cap table.

Cap Table 133

Cap Table CTO Hire Technical Cofounder Cofounder 133

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

This is not only sad but incredibly frustrating, because it is so easy to see how a great technology can be developed and commercialized if only - if only the CTO hadn't been impulsive and insecure and brought on a business partner too early in the game. … And it’s not just inexperienced CTOs. Lack of confidence? Camaraderie?

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Cofounder CTO Hire Founder 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2016

So the first question I usually get is what percent of the company or equity is that person worth? Just because it was your idea doesn’t mean you “deserve” 90% of the equity. The value in a startup is all about tangible results, so I see no equity value in the idea alone. Level of responsibility and time allocated.

Equity 120

Equity Cofounder Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property 120

SoCal CTO

MARCH 12, 2012

I've talked about that in lots of other posts, so you can visit some of these to help determine what you specifically need: Startup CTO or Developer Startup Software Development – Do Your Homework Before You Develop Anything Key ingredients in the equation are: How complex is the system? Do you have dollars to pay for development?

Technical Cofounder 211

Technical Cofounder Cofounder CTO Hire Los Angeles 211

SoCal CTO

MAY 13, 2014

You can’t afford and don’t want to hire a full-time CTO or architect. For me, if I can help you within a couple hours Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions , I’m happy to do that and I don’t expect compensation or equity for that. Here’s the other aspect that both Tony and I preach: get help.

Advisory Board 241

Advisory Board Fractional CTO CTO Hire Startup 241

blog.aparttimecto.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

A Part-Time CTO Technology. One of the main challenges of starting a products based company is how do you build your product? This is especially true of web based companies, whose product consists of mainly a web site and very little more. In Plain English. Archive Jun 20th Sun In-House or Outsource?

CTO Hire 40

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Equity Vesting 40

Business Plan Blog

AUGUST 20, 2013

In order to be a successful tech startup, the team must consist of a Chief Technical Officer (CTO) level member to help with the technology plan. This is generally achieved in one of the following ways: CTO Level Co-Founder (Equity). CTO Level Board Member or dedicated Adviser (Free or Equity). Wireframes.

CTO Hire 55

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Architecture Cofounder 55

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Now it’s time to discuss the “where”. As a seed-stage company, it is understandable to have a nascent (or non-existent) product and a barebone team relative to the great ambition of the company. Once you get to this part of the pitch, investors are trying to get a few things out of this slide: The “people roadmap”.

Part-Time VPE 195

Part-Time VPE Seed Stage CTO Hire Forecast 195

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2014

The first question I usually get is what percent of the company or equity is that person worth? Just because it was your idea doesn’t mean you “deserve” 90 percent of the equity. The value in a startup is all about tangible results, so there is no equity value in the idea alone. Level of responsibility and time allocated.

Cofounder 261

Cofounder Stock Founder Technical Cofounder 261

SoCal CTO

MAY 27, 2010

You can follow the link above for more details, but the basic idea is that most startup founders have a pretty good understanding of the basics of what they want to do and a vision for the product. And there are all sorts of different kinds of technical people who might help with getting that product to happen.

CTO Hire 170

CTO Hire Developer Founder Startup 170

www.lanceglasser.com

MAY 13, 2012

Product development. Queuing theory and product development. The Essential Product Investigation Phase Gate. So you want to ship the product early? Customer Equity. What does a CTO do? The minimum viable product. What does a CTO do? So what is the CTO job? The Year of the Black Swan.

CTO 40

CTO CTO Hire Technical Review Architecture 40

rapidrollout.wordpress.com

JANUARY 15, 2011

Web Startup Lessons Advice from a CTO and Entrepreneur Home About Startup Advice: When to Use a Consulting CTO There are not many to be found. He or she might call himself a “consulting CTO,&# “freelance CTO,&# “on-demand CTO,&# “CTO on call,&# “CTO for hire,&# or just a “technology strategy advisor.&#

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO CTO CTO Hire Fractional VPE 40

www.avc.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Employee Equity: How Much? The most common comment in this long and complicated MBA Mondays series on Employee Equity is the question of how much equity should you grant when you make a hire. For your first key hires, three, five, maybe as much as ten, you will probably not be able to use any kind of formula.

Equity 64

Equity Employee CTO Hire Fractional CTO 64

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

If you have a product description, that’s necessary, but not sufficient. A CEO who has “been there and done that” is traction, especially if teamed with a financial lead (CFO) and a product lead (CTO). Ship a minimum product now. For a true scientist, the product is never good enough, so it’s never done.

Intellectual Property 281

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Sweat Equity CTO Hire 281

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

If you have a product description, that’s necessary, but not sufficient. A CEO who has “been there and done that” is traction, especially if teamed with a financial lead (CFO) and a product lead (CTO). Ship a minimum product now. For a true scientist, the product is never good enough, so it’s never done.

Intellectual Property 260

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 260

www.huffingtonpost.com

MAY 10, 2011

We sell the winning designs to customers in the form of personalized wedding invitations, Christmas cards , and other stationery and photo card products. Ive occasionally worked with executive recruiters, for example in hiring a CTO for my first company, Eve.com. This time, I decided to handle the process myself.

CTO 43

CTO CTO Hire PHP Cofounder 43

www.entrepreneur.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Entrepreneur Homepage Startups Starting a Business Home How-To Guides Startup Basics Business Ideas Business Planning Startup Financing Success Stories Home-Based Business Starting a Business Play Video How to Take a New Product from Just an Idea to a Business (Video). What is Sweat Equity Worth? BY Asheesh Advani. |. July 31, 2007 |.

Sweat Equity 55

Sweat Equity Equity Fractional CTO CTO 55

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

If you have a product description, that’s necessary, but not sufficient. A CEO who has “been there and done that” is traction, especially if teamed with a financial lead (CFO) and a product lead (CTO). Ship a minimum product now. For a true scientist, the product is never good enough, so it’s never done.

Intellectual Property 253

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 253

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

One great solution I see is to hire an outstanding CFO who runs both. Still, I’ll bet that functionally you divide areas of competence like sales & marketing, product, engineering, biz dev, etc. .&# I usually encourage people to think about titles like, “Founder & CTO&# or “Founder & VP Marketing.&#.

Operations 292

Operations CTO Hire Startup Early Stage 292

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

You’re sales person is getting blocked by the CTO who says she shouldn’t go above him but the CTO isn’t approving the deal. But “he didn’t have the budget to hire a developer until he had raised money!&#. He went out and found a developer and built a product. I said that was my point.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Fractional CTO Technical Review CTO Hire 414

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

In this period (less than 2 years) he has brought on incredibly talented senior execs is sales, marketing, product management, client services, finance, vp engineering and more. In his spare time he raised nearly $30 million. You may know how much to pay in cash or equity for your new VP Engineering. It is really working.

Advisory Board 365

Advisory Board CTO Hire Fractional CTO Los Angeles 365

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

If you have a product description, that’s necessary, but not sufficient. A CEO who has “been there and done that” is traction, especially if teamed with a financial lead (CIO) and a product lead (CTO). Ship a minimum product now. For a true scientist, the product is never good enough, so it’s never done.

Intellectual Property 222

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 222

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 14, 2009

you can get to know Mark a bit more in my post Product Manager Entrepreneur Mark Geller ). First, early in the post, Mark mentions: The idea behind the meetup is to connect technology startups with prospective hires who may be interested to work for “alternative compensation”–e.g., reduced salary, partial equity, good experience, etc.

Software Developers 150

Software Developers Software Development Software Developer 150

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 13, 2013

Investors my tell you that, but what they can look at your product on paper and tell what it does and they will understand if it can be built. Leverage Existing Platforms or Third Party Products - you want to test your social network, grab Drupal and whip something together, or even just use a hosted service.

Technical Cofounder 338

Technical Cofounder Technical Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 338

The Next Web

AUGUST 12, 2013

At 6Wunderkinder, our motivation is a combination of passion for what we’re doing (creating the best productivity software in the world) as well as our strong and endless will to build up an impressive team and business. I launched a product, and everything went wrong. Within weeks of starting the company we already launched a product.

Cofounder 119

Cofounder CTO Hire Startup Europe 119

OnlyOnce

MARCH 22, 2016

and 7 companies in 6 cities around the world, producing an impressive 80% hire rate. The participants who have been hired by us and our partner organizations have made impressive contributions to their companies’ businesses and cultures. That’s what I call product-market fit.

CTO Hire 48

CTO Hire Cofounder Programming Equity 48

SoCal CTO

APRIL 28, 2014

they need a developer more than they need a CTO. As a founder, you do need to be telling the developers what the business and product goals are. I just had a fellow CTO ask me about a particular technical design problem and several directions they could go and ask for my thoughts on the tradeoffs for those different choices.

Technical Cofounder 280

Technical Cofounder Developer Fractional CTO CTO Hire 280

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

I continue to collect great content that is the intersection of startups, products, online and technology. Equity-Only CTO and Equity-Only Developers - SoCal CTO , November 1, 2010 I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. Call it facts for hire.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Technology Product CTO Hire 175

Ben's Blog

AUGUST 29, 2010

In my last post, I mentioned that you should strive to hire people with the right kind of ambition. That may have worked in the past but I believe today, the company’s success and the executive’s success should go hand in hand, not one coming as a by-product of the other, particularly as described above. Stay in your place.

CTO Hire 78

CTO Hire Technical Review Leadership Sales 78

rob.by

MARCH 8, 2012

I absolutely want cofounders when the time comes. ” I believe that by this he means they want cash rather than equity. My hunch is that most good software engineers only work for cash because they don’t feel that working for equity is worth the risk of failure. What is the product? 60s elevator pitch).

Technical Cofounder 42

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Engineering Fractional CTO 42

thinkspace.com

SEPTEMBER 7, 2012

How to Divide Equity to Startup Founders, Advisors, and Employees. The part that I’d like to zero in on is when you’ve got a high growth company what are some of the best practices out there to distribute equity to the founders, advisors, and employees? Equity for Founders. Equity for Employees.

Equity 62

Equity Employee Founder CTO Hire 62

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

August was a slow month in terms of traffic and I was away for a lot of the month, but there were some really great posts at the intersection of startups, technology, product and being a Startup CTO. Product Friday: Monetizing Content is a Product Problem - This is going to be BIG. m the f%*kin’ boss.”. Dec 26, 2009).

Startup 191

Startup CTO Hire Cofounder Venture Capital 191

SoCal CTO

MARCH 4, 2010

Background This post partly really came about as a result of a great conversation yesterday with David Croslin a former CTO at HP who recently conducted an interesting experiment. This is actually fairly common and I think it’s a bit challenging in that the technology roles (from technology advisor to CTO) in a startup vary widely.

Technical Review 170

Technical Review Fractional CTO Technology CTO Hire 170

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 5, 2010

Great content again in September that meets at the intersection of startups, technology, product and being a Startup CTO. previously explained that it usually requires some equity, but here is some more step by step practical advice. Except they won’t be called Product Managers. Let's recap. It’s great advice.

Technology 191

Technology Product San Francisco CTO Hire 191

Startup Company Lawyer

MAY 4, 2009

Startup companies consume resources intelligently, put people to work in efficient ways, and produce market driven products at lower costs. Joe Betts-LaCroix – CTO, OQO. Hiring and Firing. July 14th, 2009: Implement hiring policies and practices. Description: When to hire and when to fire? What to outsource.

Founder 28

Founder Warrant San Francisco Intellectual Property 28

David Teten

OCTOBER 1, 2015

Not surprisingly, the list above also is ranked from least to most equity stake in an investment for the investor, relative to the cash they invest. How would one set up such a startup to eventually raise capital from outside VCs, who will be wary of ‘dead equity’ (i.e., equity that belongs to departed cofounders)? The cliffs?

Software Developers 60

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Technical Cofounder 60