Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. Giving a co-founder a salary won’t get you the “fire in the belly” you want. The value in a startup is all about tangible results, so I see no equity value in the idea alone.

Equity 238

Equity Cofounder Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property 238

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

At our mid-year offsite our partnership at Upfront Ventures was discussing what the future of venture capital and the startup ecosystem looked like. Pitchbook estimates that there is about $290 billion of VC “overhang” (money waiting to be deployed into tech startups) in the US alone and that’s up more than 4x in just the past decade.

Technical Review 416

Technical Review Pre-Money Valuation San Francisco Valuation 416

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 14, 2022

And with the technology available these days, it is convenient to invest in emerging startups. Are you wondering how to invest in startups in India? The digital startup craze. The world is about to see a new generation propagating the Indian startup investing industry. Sectors witnessing a startup boom. Media tech.

Technical Review 145

Technical Review Due Diligence India Startup 145

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

I was asked by a reader how much equity he should give out to early employees and to service providers in a very early stage startup. Founders vs. Early Employees To help with this discussion, let me start with a definition of "early employee." the better the startup will be. Which means n = (i - 1)/i.

Early Stage 391

Early Stage Equity CTO Hire Sweat Equity 391

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 28, 2021

Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). Thus investing in startups should always be approached as a low odds game.

Angel Investor 361

Angel Investor Accredited Investor IRR Angel Groups 361

View from Seed

JANUARY 13, 2021

The objection goes something like this: “yes, I can see rookie founders turning to you for a seed round. But won’t all good founders go to established firms that raise series A’s out of the gate?”. And yes, a seed fund may have a tougher time holding on to their ownership down the road, and thus get diluted down. But guess what?

Dilution 399

Dilution Later Stage Portfolio Technical Review 399

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 18, 2024

These are people that didn’t make their money through a tech startup or startup investing. Some of these folks are founders and CEOs, but not at high-growth tech startups. They might not understand how a pre-revenue startup could be worth anything, let alone be valued at $5mm. Perhaps they inherited it.

.Net 88

.Net Cap Table Startup Technical Review 88

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Final startup grind from msuster. And the folks at Startup Grind have been kind enough to invite me to present this morning in Mountain View on the topic. Quick summary: Be careful not to have too many co-founders. it’s the most expensive dilution you’ll ever face. PMs are a vital part of a tech startup.

Cofounder 388

Cofounder Early Stage Startup Silicon Valley 388

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2016

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. Giving a co-founder a salary won’t get you the “fire in the belly” you want. The value in a startup is all about tangible results, so I see no equity value in the idea alone.

Equity 120

Equity Cofounder Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property 120

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

One of the things that founders have the most angst about is whom they should have on their board and at what stage of the business. Why you should set up a board at the seed round of funding I know these days with SAFE documents and rolling convertible notes many founders prefer not to set up a board early on.

Venture Capital 236

Venture Capital Startup Angel Investor Silicon Valley 236

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. Innovate In the early years of a startup there is a lot of kinetic energy of enthusiastic innovators looking to launch a product that changes how an industry works.

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

Other founders, “as a privately held company we don’t disclose our valuation.&# Me, “dude, I’m not a journalist. Investors own 25%, the founders own 75%. The VC’s $1 million still buys them 25% of your company – it’s you who has diluted to 60% ownership rather than 75%.

Valuation 405

Valuation Liquidation Preference Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet 405

The Next Web

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

George Deeb is the Managing Partner at Chicago-based Red Rocket Ventures , a startup consulting and financial advisory firm based in Chicago. There are a lot of variables to go into calculating a fair equity split a startup team. So, a fair split, would be closer to 60/40 in favor of the funding founder, when diluted for the cash.

Cofounder 136

Cofounder Equity Founder Seed Stage 136

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2020

In my work with new startups, I often find people who believe that the terms “ entrepreneur ” and “ inventor ” are interchangeable. In fact, they may fear team leadership as a burden, or a potential dilution of their ownership. Yet I find a big difference between “starting a new business” and “creating a new product.”

Founder 312

Founder Intellectual Property Dilution Startup 312

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 16, 2017

Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). Thus investing in startups should always be approached as a low odds game.

Angel Investor 190

Angel Investor Accredited Investor IRR Angel Groups 190

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

I have often been asked about Startup Funding by entrepreneurs. Many myths surround the subject of startup funding. Here is Startup Funding, a Comprehensive Guide for Entrepreneurs. You must have seen a lot of startups giving out promotions, discounts, and incentives at the early phase of their business. Debt investors.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

Every entrepreneur needs to understand the following basics, to be addressed at company formation, as they engage a qualified attorney to draw up the paperwork: Allocate founder’s stock commensurate with commitment. Key founder vesting should have no cliff. Retain the right to reclaim stock from anyone leaving the startup.

Stock 240

Stock .Net Vesting Founder Vesting 240

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

I was reading Danielle Morrill’s blog post today on whether one’s “ Startup Burn Rate is Normal. I love how transparently Danielle lives her startup (& encourages other to join in) because it provides much needed transparency to other startups. ” I highly recommend reading it.

Burn Rate 383

Burn Rate Balance Sheet .Net Valuation 383

Gust

APRIL 9, 2014

Equity dilution works when the same pie is divided among more people. The Founder of a company starts by owning all the shares representing ownership of the company. Therefore, to avoid dilution to its existing equity holders, all a company has to do is not hire any more employees who get options, or take any more money from investors.

Dilution 150

Dilution Equity Vesting Stock Options 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

I recently wrote a post about why I didn’t think early-stage startups should have COOs. What a luxury in a startup to have the number one person in the business get to focus on just strategy? “We’re all equal co-founders and we don’t care about titles.&# Dilute your cash, equity or both.

Operations 292

Operations CTO Hire Startup Early Stage 292

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2022

Wouldn’t you like to be one of the lucky people who joined Google and Facebook when these were startups, and now be a multi-millionaire or better? So people ask me “How many shares should I ask for or expect when I join a startup today?” Thus, options don’t “pay the mortgage” today, so to speak. 7% Product Manager,2 -.3%

Stock Options 343

Stock Options Advisory Board Stock Startup 343

Feld Thoughts

MARCH 24, 2017

Foundry Group is best known for our investments in startups, but our vehicle currently investing in other venture funds, Foundry Group Next, is off to what we believe to be a great start and I wanted to share an update about it by talking about our new investment in a fund managed by Founder Collective.

Founder 75

Founder LP Technical Review Seed Stage 75

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

A few weeks ago, we hosted a small dinner for a number of portfolio company founders, LP’s, and friends of the firm. It’s by far the longest time I’ve spent working on any one thing, and I feel very blessed to have been able to work with my partners, colleagues, founders, and collaborators. at exit due to dilution.

IRR 205

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 205

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2018

I left the meeting and had to attend a 3-hour board meeting where two founders have been fighting and each want the other one fired. But your co-founder had been senior at one of the big enterprise software companies and if I remember correctly American Express had run a big pilot with you. Some were interesting, some weren’t.

Software Review 381

Software Review Churn Rate Due Diligence New York 381

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2021

Every entrepreneur needs to understand the following basics, to be addressed at company formation, as they engage a qualified attorney to draw up the paperwork: Allocate founder’s stock commensurate with commitment. Key founder vesting should have no cliff. Retain the right to reclaim stock from anyone leaving the startup.

Vesting 298

Vesting Dilution Stock Founder Vesting 298

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

A few weeks ago, we hosted a small dinner for a number of portfolio company founders, LP’s, and friends of the firm. It’s by far the longest time I’ve spent working on any one thing, and I feel very blessed to have been able to work with my partners, colleagues, founders, and collaborators. at exit due to dilution.

IRR 156

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 156

Austin Startup

JULY 6, 2018

Background Reading: Why startups need signals. Re: cash, the more “unbundled” types of accelerators (less formalized, less equity) tend to not provide any cash upfront, but also typically “cost” less in equity, often just 1–2% of your fully diluted capitalization. Anti-Dilution. Ask specific founders, off the record.

Dilution 48

Dilution Startup Technical Review Equity 48

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2018

There’s a quick litmus-test conversation any early-stage VC will have with the founder and it’s one that you should be as prepared for as your elevator pitch. Founder: “$8–10 million” VC: “What’s your current burn rate?” Founder: “$250k / month.” Founder: “Um. Why are you raising so much?” Let me check my plan.”

Burn Rate 247

Burn Rate Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Dilution 247

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

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

A few weeks ago, we hosted a small dinner for a number of portfolio company founders, LP’s, and friends of the firm. It’s by far the longest time I’ve spent working on any one thing, and I feel very blessed to have been able to work with my partners, colleagues, founders, and collaborators. at exit due to dilution.

IRR 136

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 136

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 4, 2019

L to R: Tiara Zolniez (Co-Founder & Sales), Dr. Roshawnna Novellus (Co-Founder & CEO), Alisha Griffey (COO) The Forrest Four-Cast: February 4, 2019 Fifty diverse startups will aim to impress a panel of judges and a live audience with their skills, creativity and innovation at SXSW Pitch Presented by Cyndx.

Startup 50

Startup Cofounder Technical Review Equity 50

Gust

APRIL 11, 2014

Let’s get right down to business: Dilution of founders’ and other early shareholders’ equity in startups is frequently a subject of intense interest and debate. That’s the concept of what some call mathematical dilution. The simplest illustration is the first VC funding round of a new startup.

Dilution 162

Dilution Equity Pre-Money Valuation Prospectus 162

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

I raised money and traded equity, but with my venture, I had to make one of the toughest decisions, to build it with some assistance of co-founders. Find the right co-founders. Having co-founders provides a strategy to avoid funding your start-up, with the help of investor’s money. Often, this is considered as a mistake.

Cofounder 124

Cofounder Sweat Equity Equity Dilution 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2015

Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). Thus investing in startups should always be approached as a low odds game.

Angel Investor 120

Angel Investor Angel Groups Accredited Investor IRR 120

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 9, 2017

A startup success, now MyArtBroker has some 10,000 members around the world, both art buyers and art sellers who use the site to find the artwork they want or sell the art they no longer want! But that will dilute your focus, time and energy and mean you have less time you to drive the business forward and expand. Experts cost money.

Founder 68

Founder Dilution Web Development SEO 68

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 24, 2013

One of the challenges for investing in startups has always been the lack of an established way for founders and investors to actually measure and decide on the valuation of the startup concerned. “If you are an angel investor and a venture is seeking capital from you, insist on getting its Worthworm report.

Pre-Money Valuation 150

Pre-Money Valuation Web Technical Review Angel Investor 150

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

There’s been a lot of digital ink spilled around the various types of capital available to startups today. What is it, and how should founders think about it? As a startup grows, venture debt becomes a viable option to continue that growth. You’ll also see some startups use it as an additional cushion.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120