Startup Company Lawyer

AUGUST 31, 2012

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. ” As a result, Ted introduced the Series Seed preferred stock documents as an alternative to convertible debt for early stage investments.

Convertible Security 73

Convertible Security Equity Security Preferred Stock 73

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

Mike Stern (wasn’t sure which one so leave a comment if it’s you): Q: “is it possible to sell your startup without venture investment if the company has big traction and a large user base?&# The downside is that people need to buy their stock. This question runs from about minute 2 – minute 8. Do it early.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Term Sheet Valuation Stock Options 282

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2015

Even though initial stock has no value or market, it is extremely valuable in dividing entity ownership between multiple co-founders, commensurate with their investment, contribution and role. Startup owners need to assume a three to five year wait for a liquidity event, such as acquisition or going public, before they can cash out.

Stock 120

Stock Vesting Common Stock Founder Vesting 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 29, 2018

Typically, vesting in startups occurs monthly over four years, starting with the first 25 percent vesting only after a participant has satisfied commitments for at least 12 months (one year cliff). To retain control of your business, you need to reclaim stock shares from anyone leaving the startup for any reason.

Stock 129

Stock Vesting Preferred Stock Cofounder 129

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

Startup Resources (Updated Mar 2013). Venture Capital Cafe > Startup Resources (Updated Mar 2013). VC & Startup Resources. Seed Startups. VC Cafe covers early stage Israeli and European tech & mobile startups. Hundreds of startups featured since 2005, will yours be next? About VC Cafe.

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

However, many industry experts question the accuracy of early-stage market data, given many startups are no longer filing their Form Ds. Should Private Startups Be Issuing More Bonds? Startup investors should consider revenue share when equity is a bad fit. After Funding 500 Deals, What Have We Learned? Conferences.

Revenue 60

Revenue Term Sheet Founder Technical Review 60

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

Startup Company Lawyer

MARCH 14, 2010

In addition, I think that a “peace treaty&# between early-stage investors and startup companies on standard terms (at least at a term sheet level) is a step in the right direction. To differentiate it from typical “Series A&# preferred stock, which comes with certain expectations with regard to rights.

Finance 70

Finance Software Review Term Sheet Liquidation Preference 70

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Startups and angels: Along the way to success. Term-sheets for preferred stock offerings are designed to protect the investor in case things don’t go as well as planned.   Posted at 04:19 PM in Funding startups | Permalink. By Tim Keane, Angel Investor, Golden Angels Investors, LLC.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

In the case of an early-stage startup that hasn’t issued preferred stock yet, the debt converts into stock of the acquiring company (if it’s a stock deal) at a valuation subject to a cap. If it’s not a stock deal, then one normally sees one of the above scenarios. Some sort of conversion does occur.

Conversion 96

Conversion Sales Later Stage Preferred Stock 96

K9 Ventures

NOVEMBER 21, 2011

Let’s say you’re the founder (I use a solo-founder in my example to keep things simple, but this could just as well apply to a founding team) of a startup called Blood, Sweat and Tears, Inc. They want to keep the founders “all-in” in the startup, because they feel that otherwise the founders won’t be motivated enough.

Founder 87

Founder Common Stock Preferred Stock Stock 87

K9 Ventures

NOVEMBER 21, 2011

Let’s say you’re the founder (I use a solo-founder in my example to keep things simple, but this could just as well apply to a founding team) of a startup called Blood, Sweat and Tears, Inc. They want to keep the founders “all-in” in the startup, because they feel that otherwise the founders won’t be motivated enough.

Founder 84

Founder Common Stock Preferred Stock Stock 84

Gust

OCTOBER 21, 2011

For convertible notes, the only liquidity event we need be concerned with is an acquisition of the startup in the near future, before the maturity date; otherwise, the notes will convert to equity of one kind or another, and the eventual sale of that equity (in a public offering, acquisition, or private sale) is a different subject for another day.

Finance 79

Finance Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet Liquidity Event 79

Altgate

MARCH 16, 2009

 So for the past few weeks I've been talking to venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, CEOs and other industry participants in these countries and learning a ton about the local startup ecosystems.   In India and China there is no preferred stock.   In India and China there is no preferred stock.

Global 28

Global India United Kingdom 28

The Startup Lawyer

MARCH 11, 2010

A variety of model startup seed funding docs have been released in the past year or so: TechStars Series AA Preferred , YCombinator Series AA Preferred , and TheFunded Founder Institute’s Plain Preferred. When an issue like this occurs at your startup, you’ll be glad your documents are “complicated.&#.

Delaware 49

Delaware Hockey Stick Preferred Stock Open Source 49

Scott Edward Walker

JULY 27, 2011

There are, however, certain formal procedural requirements that the stockholder must comply with, including making a written demand upon the corporation, “under oath” and stating a “proper purpose.” The board can either accept or reject the demand. Moreover, there are certain tricky evidentiary issues.

Delaware 49

Delaware Liquidation Preference Redemption Los Angeles 49

The Startup Lawyer

MARCH 11, 2010

A variety of model startup seed funding docs have been released in the past year or so: TechStars Series AA Preferred , YCombinator Series AA Preferred , and TheFunded Founder Institute’s Plain Preferred. When an issue like this occurs at your startup, you’ll be glad your documents are “complicated.&#.

Delaware 45

Delaware Hockey Stick Preferred Stock Open Source 45

ithacaVC

APRIL 25, 2012

That demand will accelerate the relationship building and the valuation discussion. However, stating a desired pre-money valuation early in the process is not a good idea. Here is why. Bottom line: valuation discussions too early in the VC relationship game are a huge distraction and will likely backfire on you.

Valuation 49

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Liquidation Preference Preferred Stock 49

Startup Company Lawyer

JANUARY 11, 2010

If the investor had invested $500K in a Series A Preferred Stock at a $4.5M Observation 2 – Angel investors realize convertible debt is a bad deal so they demand price protection provisions (i.e. premoney valuation, then the investor would own 10% of the company. a price cap).

Angel Investor 39

Angel Investor Valuation Bridge Financing Preferred Stock 39