Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Getting investors to trust you with their money is always a challenge, and it’s even more difficult in the early stages, where you don’t have a significant revenue stream, a few customers, or maybe even a product yet. At these stages, it’s all about you, and your ability to communicate and execute effectively.

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Due Diligence Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Preferred Stock 271

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

Recently I wrote a post arguing to make the definition of a Startup more inclusive than that to which Silicon Valley, fueled by Venture Capital return profiles, would sometimes like to attach to the word. Most of what I think about startup communities came from mentorship by Brad Feld through hours of private discussion and debate.

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Community San Diego Silicon Valley Los Angeles 378

View from Seed

APRIL 21, 2015

On the heels of our research on HBS entrepreneurs , NextView’s Dimitri Dadiomov (HBS ’15) interviewed several top founders on the early stages of their companies. On Launching and Finding Early Traction. Startups are all about just going out there and doing it.

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The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 13, 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 $60M in funding. Sequoia , Accel , NEA , etc.).

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Asia Silicon Valley India Term Sheet 132

JANUARY 9, 2014

No clear vision or purpose This should be the starting point for any startup founder, but it’s often overlooked. Tony Hsieh Without a clear purpose, a startup can meander along without much momentum. in business we can create much deeper connections with our audience and give our startups a better chance of success.

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Early Stage Startup Cofounder Design 102

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2020

In their passion to succeed, too many entrepreneurs treat friends and family investments as “low-hanging” fruit, only to find out later, after a stumble, that the pain of lost relationships is greater than the loss of their beloved startup. In the interim, there is no market for the shares, and no dividends or interest.

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Management Cram Down Angel Investor Equity 308

The Startup Magazine

JULY 21, 2019

For startup owners, the initial stages of business can be the most thrilling and terrifying: it’s time to crunch the numbers, go the extra mile, and make your vision fly. Although only about 5% of startups take out business insurance, it’s often the difference between make or break if something unexpected happens.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

What I love about my job is getting to see teams of super-early-stage companies develop ideas that while raw have potential to make an impact on the market. Great startups have budgets. It turns out that financial reporting (GAAP) doesn’t take into account the only thing that matters to startup survival – cashflow.

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Operations Metrics Early Stage Non-Compete 150

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Startups and angels: Along the way to success.   Note that this applies only to earl stage Series A-type equity financings and assumes no cash dividends are paid to investors.   First , dividends. In some cases, dividends are often paid at the discretion of the board and not required by the terms.

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Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 16, 2018

It is probable that in the early stages, you will have to take a pay cut. Taking the time to study how things such as businesses expenses and dividends work is essential. This is perhaps when running your own business really starts to pay dividends. A Higher Income. It is however important to be realistic.

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Dividend Early Stage Salary Security 94

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2013

Understanding “The Funding Angle” I sit at enough board meetings to hear conflicting advice given to entrepreneurs about how to handle PR and announcements at startups. When many of us advisors / investors did our first startups there were very few purely tech media outlets. Should I Bundle it With More Juicy News?

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Startup PR Dividend Merger 355

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.

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Convertible Security Equity Security Preferred Stock 73

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. I suspect that this seems reasonable if there is basically no due diligence due to the early stage of the companies. (By

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Finance Software Review Term Sheet Liquidation Preference 70

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2018

In their passion to succeed, too many entrepreneurs treat friends and family investments as “low-hanging” fruit, only to find out later, after a stumble, that the pain of lost relationships is greater than the loss of their beloved startup. In the interim, there is no market for the shares, and no dividends or interest.

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Cram Down Angel Investor Equity Dividend 148

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2014

In their passion to succeed, too many entrepreneurs treat friends and family investments as “low-hanging” fruit, only to find out later, after a stumble, that the pain of lost relationships is greater than the loss of their beloved startup. In the interim, there is no market for the shares, and no dividends or interest.

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Founder Cram Down Angel Investor Equity 254

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2013

In their passion to succeed, too many entrepreneurs treat friends and family investments as “low-hanging” fruit, only to find out later, after a stumble, that the pain of lost relationships is greater than the loss of their beloved startup. In the interim, there is no market for the shares, and no dividends or interest. Marty Zwilling.

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Cram Down Angel Investor Equity Dividend 230

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2016

Getting investors to trust you with their money is always a challenge, and it’s even more difficult in the early stages, where you don’t have a significant revenue stream, a few customers, or maybe even a product yet. At these stages, it’s all about you, and your ability to communicate and execute effectively.

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Due Diligence Intellectual Property Preferred Stock Seed Stage 120

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

Having time to think about “leadership” at most startups feels like a luxury. The reality of most startups is about survival. So spending time thinking about what your leadership style is, whether it’s effective and what you could do to improve it can yield dividends. It’s a new year – 2016.

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Leadership Southern California San Diego Hiring 150

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2015

In their passion to succeed, too many entrepreneurs treat friends and family investments as “low-hanging” fruit, only to find out later, after a stumble, that the pain of lost relationships is greater than the loss of their beloved startup. In the interim, there is no market for the shares, and no dividends or interest.

Cram Down 120

Cram Down Angel Investor Equity Dividend 120

The Equity Kicker

JUNE 26, 2014

Our bet is that the investment in support will pay dividends when our companies exit, and if we are right our entrepreneurs will win big and we will win big. We are a bit like an accelerator programme, a bit like an incubator and a bit like a straight early stage fund, yet we are also different to all of these things in crucial ways.

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David Teten

JANUARY 21, 2021

VI: Revenue-based financing: The next step for private equity and early-stage investment. Jonathan Bragdon , CEO, describes Capacity as “a team of founders-turned-funders making non-dilutive, founder-aligned investments of $50-$300k in post-startup, post-revenue businesses planning to 2X revenues in 12-24 months.

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Equity Revenue Cofounder Colorado 78

The Startup Lawyer

AUGUST 22, 2011

Here’s a list of the top 5 deal terms that cause harm to startups at the seed financing stage and therefore should be avoided: 5. Whatever the form of control, seed investment is way too early to be even thinking about losing any amount of control of your startup. Dividend (that pays out). Non-Dilution.

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Angel Investor Dividend Dilution Cofounder 99

Altgate

OCTOBER 8, 2009

Tips: $75 HOT All-Hands Team Meeting Board Management Tips For Startup CEOs Customer Support 2.0 Tips: $75 HOT All-Hands Team Meeting Board Management Tips For Startup CEOs Customer Support 2.0 Tips: $75 HOT All-Hands Team Meeting Board Management Tips For Startup CEOs Customer Support 2.0 Bookmark the permalink.

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Term Sheet Technical Review Michigan Liquidation Preference 39

Hunter Walker

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

Additionally, funds such as Foundry Group and Google Ventures have taken their own approaches – the former creating a separate early stage entity , the latter encouraging their seed stage partners to create standalone personal syndicates. Maybe they’d throw off cash dividends for years to come.

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Syndicate Syndication South America Seed Stage 99

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

The past year was a wild ride for startups and founders, giving a whole new meaning to the ”rollercoaster” aspect of being an entrepreneur. A combination of competition for top talent and an effort to bring employees back to the office drove startups in Israel to throw extravagant parties and all-inclusive retreats abroad.

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Founder Startup Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 187

Up and Running

MARCH 20, 2017

While in the business planning process or the early stages of operation, business owners will undoubtedly write off some non-essentials as unnecessary, too expensive, or earmark them for some time “down the road.”. Arguably, you shouldn’t spend your hard-earned startup funding on $1000 office chairs.

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Social Media Early Stage Audience Media 116

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 22, 2018

This is particularly true in the early stages of a new venture when you may be a solopreneur or working with a very small team. They run the gamut from affiliate marketing to startup conferences with virtually everything in between. by Thomas Smale, founder of FE International. Here are the top 10: 1. LTV Conference.

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Las Vegas Software Review Affiliate Cofounder 124

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 28, 2022

With the rise of startups and growing businesses , it has become more critical for investors to have a thorough understanding of equity to be aware of all of the advantages they are receiving from the companies they have invested in. The establishment of a dividend policy. Why do startups issue company equity? Common stock.

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Valuation Equity Warrant Common Stock 108

ConversionXL

JULY 29, 2015

For example, digital startups are more likely to secure funding if someone on their founding team holds a doctoral degree. shares, dividends). Those early donors are simply personal connections of the project creator: “Friends and family funding plays a key role in the early stages of fundraising.

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Campaign Reputation Metrics Naming 48

Scott Edward Walker

SEPTEMBER 21, 2011

A sophisticated angel investor understands how the startup game is played and the role that he plays. When will I get my first dividend check?”, Finally, unless the startup is raising at least approximately $750,000, it generally is not in the company’s interest to issue shares of preferred stock.

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Preferred Stock Angel Investor Entrepreneur Common Stock 45

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 25, 2014

PR is an insanely valuable activity in early-stage companies. Very few investors understand this and even fewer startups. When you’re an early-stage business every dollar matters and because many startup teams these days are very product & technology centric they often miscalculate the importance of PR.

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Rob Go

MARCH 20, 2013

What are some common-sense tips for startups as they seek to avoid the “ Trough of Sorrow ” that Brian Balfour has blogged about? There really aren’t many easy answers – honestly, most startups face some sort of trough of sorrow. The third is some sort of dividend structure. Rob Go] This is a great question!

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Altgate

MARCH 17, 2009

@altgate Startups, Venture Capital & Everything In Between Skip to content Home Furqan Nazeeri (fn@altgate.com) ← Global Nuances of Startup Compensation Obama Shoots Down 90% Tax Bracket → Popular Posts Posted on March 17, 2009 by fnazeeri Once again, here is a list of some of the more popular posts on this blog.

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Term Sheet Due Diligence Liquidation Preference Dividend 28

BeyondVC

DECEMBER 15, 2005

As for startups, not many were mentioned, and most of the technology buyers said your best bet was coming in through a larger partner whether it be a Sun, Cisco, HP, or IBM. On the other hand if you deliver on your promises and have a great base of early reference customers, it will pay huge dividends.

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Advisory Board New York Dividend Sales Cycle 60

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 9, 2015

See Also: The 5 Types of Employees You’ll Find on Your Startup Journey (and How to Manage Them). If you’re in a traditional startup-style business, you might want to consider treating your new talent more like a founder than an employee. Your new hire will be set up for success and be able to take that job to new heights.”.

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Hiring Employee Technical Review Dividend 60

Gust

MAY 24, 2012

As a quick review, most startups begin life as corporations with a single class of equity securities, referred to as Common Stock , issued to founders, employees, and outside service providers. Options and warrants, when issued, are also typically exercisable for shares of Common Stock.

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IPO Equity Common Stock Stock 159

www.singlefounder.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

I’d like to take a few minutes to dispel the top five myths of software startups. VC funding gets you startup capital and a chance. But if you have what it takes to start a startup you should have sufficient vision not to need this crutch.&# In the early stages of a company, this can be critical.

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Software Review Software Startup Massachusetts 40