VC Cafe

OCTOBER 16, 2010

Tender – customer support. uservoice – customer feedback. link] – proactive customer chat. Instead of a 20% option pool, we created a 40% option pool, and gave out half of it to the first half-dozen hires who came on and were willing to work without salary for a period of time, forming the core team.

Option Pool 88

Option Pool Analytics LLC Startup 88

Seeing Both Sides

JULY 15, 2009

I had to struggle to get to $6 pre and I have a prototype and real customers! Another term that impacts the price is the size of the option pool. These new hires typically receive stock options, and the issuance of those stock options dilute the other investors. Life isn’t fair.”).

Pre-Money Valuation 49

Pre-Money Valuation Option Pool Stock Options Post-Money Valuation 49

Hunter Walker

MAY 7, 2014

Pitch decks usually have a set of expected milestones – features, number of customers, city launches, revenue run rate, etc – that this funding round is intended to accomplish over an estimated time frame. Building a senior team but pushing back on having a healthy employee option pool? Won’t work out well.

Hiring 108

Hiring Option Pool Early Stage Term Sheet 108

Hippoland

APRIL 10, 2016

But, Ada wants to split the equity 50% her, 20% Bob and 20% me with a 10% option pool. You have to productize the research, build partnerships, sell to customers, etc – presumably none of which you have done pre-incorporation. We are trying to decide how much equity to allocate to each person.

Cofounder 48

Cofounder Cap Table Equity Vesting 48

www.paulgraham.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

12 ] There are a lot of institutionalized delays in startup funding: themulti-week mating dance with investors; the distinction betweentermsheets and deals; the fact that each series A has enormouslyelaborate, custom paperwork. Nearly all customers choose the competing product, ajob. Its the way things have always been.

Startup 93

Startup Valuation Non-Compete Deal Flow 93

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 17, 2009

Assuming normal valuations at fund raising rounds you’ll be down to 6-12% after you’ve created a stock-option pool and raised capital. But these people seldom make retirement money from the stock options on these companies. Get customer input. Interview customers to better articulate their problems.

Founder Vesting 365

Founder Vesting Intellectual Property Stock Options IP 365

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

.   (“If we can close 35% of all opportunities, and can get an opportunity by making x contacts, and there are 300 opportunities per month, then we should be able to sell 100 customers per month if we have the capital ($35 per contact) to cover the market every month.”   This results in a five-year projection of XYZ.).

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

This provides us more time to develop meaningful relationships with prospects and customers. A number of analysts have particular focus on serving the customers of technology companies, e.g., Gartner and 451 Research , and their work is also relevant for investors. 3) Raise capital. 6) Due diligence. 7) Negotiate .

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

www.instigatorblog.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

You can’t have an option pool that takes up 50% of the company’s shares, and you have to leave room for future employees as well. Paul Graham offers up a formula for the equity challenge , which I think proves the fact that those first few employees deserve more.

Equity 41

Equity Employee Startup Vesting 41

www.startupnorth.ca

OCTOBER 23, 2010

The Adventure of a Lifetime 17 Pithy Insights for Startup Founders 17 Pithy Insights for Startup Employees Venture Hacks > Hiring Venture Hacks > Employees Venture Hacks > The Option Pool Shuffle Paul Graham > The Equity Equation [link] boris It's important to note that those options grants are AFTER a Series A funding.

Employee 41

Employee Founder Salary Equity 41

venturehacks.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

founders@venturehacks.com (Help requests from paying customers are answered within 24 hours.). The Option Pool Shuffle. Popular Posts. How to pick a co-founder. How to make a cap table. Part 2: Deck.

Equity 40

Equity Cap Table Valuation RSS 40

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

By which I meannot that it has to make something physical, but that it has to haveone thing it sells to many people, rather than doing custom workfor individual clients. Custom work doesnt scale. An advantage of consulting, as a way to develop a product, is thatyou know youre making something at least one customer wants.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

venturehacks.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

The best sellers can sell to customers, partners, investors, and employees. Breakups are hard If you’re going to fall out with your co-founder, do it early, recover the equity into the option pool to keep the company going, and recruit someone else great to fill the missing slot. Build in founder vesting (a.k.a.

Cofounder 101

Cofounder Founder Technical Cofounder Technical Review 101

thestartuplawyer.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

Contact The Startup Lawyer: Home Page About Contact FAQs Glossary Ryan Roberts Law: Home Page Social Networks: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Flickr Delicious Digg Last.FM He obviously never launched a startup and got shafted by a co-founder. Ryan Roberts says: August 20, 2010 at 4:41 am Thanks for the kind words, Tamer.

Cofounder 40

Cofounder Founder Preferred Stock Startup 40

Scott Edward Walker

NOVEMBER 26, 2017

The way the investor thinks about it is that, if you can’t figure out your way to network your way to [an investor],… then you’re unlikely to be able to network your way into hiring a great team, or network your way into selling your product to customers. (at www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEOR0AJsziE. v=NEOR0AJsziE.

Term Sheet 63

Term Sheet San Francisco Founder Investment Bankers 63

venturehacks.com

MARCH 21, 2008

For example, they introduce the company to a key customer or investor. They know all your prospective customers intimately. Many advisors want options they can exercise immediately —that’s fine. They’ll bring you leads for customers, employees, and investors. Normal advisors The normal advisor gets 0.1%-0.25%

Advisory Board 44

Advisory Board Cap Table Vesting Equity 44

crowdSPRING Blog

NOVEMBER 15, 2013

Model Equity Calculator for Founders with Option Pool Expansion – crowdspring.co/1fwUdsA. 20 Beautiful Custom Lettering Typography Designs – crowdspring.co/1eEjwLG. How Content Marketing Can Help Grow Your Business in 2014 – crowdspring.co/1gNMc5E. The Second Time Is Harder – crowdspring.co/18prpgk.

Social Media 93

Social Media Small Business Design Media 93

The Next Web

AUGUST 14, 2013

The best way to survive is to have customers paying you. There’s a couple places you can find other investors: Your customers. Often times your customers/users have money to invest or have been running companies that have raised money. Surviving Until You Are Ready to Raise. You’ll likely need some angels in the round.

Founder 142

Founder Incubator Cofounder Accredited Investor 142