Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Quick summary: Be careful not to have too many co-founders. I don’t think VCs care as much about co-founders & economics as people think. It will pay huge dividends in avoiding the CEO tied up in admin and allow him / her to focus on bigger picture items. it’s the most expensive dilution you’ll ever face.

Cofounder 388

Cofounder Early Stage Startup Silicon Valley 388

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. Matt Prince , Co-Founder and CEO, CloudFlare (Web performance and security to protect and accelerate websites; $72.1 On Launching and Finding Early Traction.

Founder 120

Founder Las Vegas Entrepreneur Cofounder 120

Agile VC

APRIL 17, 2011

Kayak was started here in my backyard of Boston… co-founder & CTO Paul English and the product/engineering team is based here in Concord MA. Co-founder & CEO Steve Hafner and the business team are based in Norwalk, CT. 5) High Productivity: Kayak had 148 employees at the end of 2010. Series A-1 Preferred.

Pre-Money Valuation 113

Pre-Money Valuation Liquidation Preference Dividend Common Stock 113

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2017

In my view, the number of traditional long-term employee roles is declining rapidly, due to advances in technology and automation. Hard work and persistence pay big dividends. Business founders decide that while they cannot control what others do, they can absolutely control their response.

Entrepreneur 147

Entrepreneur Dividend Technical Review Small Business 147

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Founder insistence on non-dilute clauses, arms-length relationships, and quick closure without due diligence will short-circuit active interest. Due diligence also normally involves onsite visits and employee discussions, so the entire team needs to be fully aware of expectations. Naïve expectations on funding terms and process.

Due Diligence 271

Due Diligence Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Preferred Stock 271

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 1, 2019

A successful entrepreneur, John is the founder of three businesses: The DiJulius Group, an international consulting firm, John Robert’s Spa, a chain of upscale salons in Northeast Ohio, and Believe in Dreams, a nonprofit that helps make dreams come true for deserving children. It ultimately makes price irrelevant.

Founder 113

Founder Artificial Inteligence Ohio Retention 113

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

Clearly the founders and senior executives of a company are the most valuable resources and their time should be maximized on the most valuable tasks. I watched Ophir Tanz achieve much in his early days at the Founder & CEO at GumGum, which has now become quite a large business. And it turns out that employee reviews matter.

Operations 150

Operations Metrics Early Stage Non-Compete 150

YoungUpstarts

JULY 17, 2020

by Juan Pablo Segura, President and Co-Founder of Babyscripts. Are you paying money for SaaS services that are no longer relevant or can be taken on by employees? Support Your Employees. Often you are asking your employees to do more for less, and it’s imperative that they feel valued and supported.

Startup 287

Startup Wisconsin Stock Options Dividend 287

Bryce Dot VC

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

In the last 10 years, 7 times more founders have been exposed to the good, bad and ugly of starting and growing a venture funded company. Each of those founders had to recruit employees and build teams funded by their venture investors.

Dividend 40

Dividend Angel Investor Cofounder Founder 40

Hearpreneur

AUGUST 11, 2021

There will be less employees and more solopreneurs. Thanks to Ben Reynolds, Sure Dividend ! #3- If nothing else, the pandemic taught us that employees can be extremely effective in remote settings and that many enjoy working remotely. The future of entrepreneurship for the vast majority is like ‘freelancing'.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Technical Review Social Media Bootstrapping 126

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2020

Founder insistence on non-dilute clauses, arms-length relationships, and quick closure without due diligence will short-circuit active interest. Due diligence also normally involves onsite visits and employee discussions, so the entire team needs to be fully aware of expectations. Naïve expectations on funding terms and process.

Due Diligence 308

Due Diligence Intellectual Property Preferred Stock Seed Stage 308

Berkonomics

JANUARY 6, 2022

First, the marginal exit event: Sometimes the end game or sale of the company is not a happy event for the early investors, including the entrepreneur or the founders. Most sophisticated investors will take either a promissory note or preferred stock, both of which come before founder or management stock in a sale or liquidation.

Dividend 62

Dividend IRR Preferred Stock Participating Preferred 62

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.

Founder 187

Founder Startup Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 187

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

  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.   A cumulative dividend compounds annually.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 6, 2010

doing a reference call on a prospective employee. But whether you’re raising money, selling to customers, looking to make an investment or whatever – listening pays more dividends than talking. I was interviewing the founder of a prominent company of which many of you would have heard.

Churn Rate 311

Churn Rate Due Diligence Dividend Conversion 311

Hunter Walker

FEBRUARY 2, 2023

What should your relationship (as a founder) be with this person? Remember, the idea is that you’re all in this together on behalf of the company, and your employee. Sometimes founders will question whether it’s truly a ‘good hire’ if they need to throw extra equity at an outside advisor.

Hiring 60

Hiring Cap Table Equity Dividend 60

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2016

When visionary founders depart (death, firing, etc.), With 115,000 employees Apple can barely get annual updates out for their laptops and desktop computers. the operating executives who reported to them believe it’s their turn to run the company (often with the blessing of the ex CEO). Instead there is everything to gain.

Azure 120

Azure Business Model Cloud Artificial Inteligence 120

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2016

When visionary founders depart (death, firing, etc.), With 115,000 employees Apple can barely get annual updates out for their laptops and desktop computers. the operating executives who reported to them believe it’s their turn to run the company (often with the blessing of the ex CEO). Instead there is everything to gain.

Azure 120

Azure Business Model Cloud Artificial Inteligence 120

Austin Startup

OCTOBER 1, 2017

Some of those tidbits have changed careers and made companies viable; one never knows what effect a different and more experienced viewpoint will have on an impressionable founder. A little personal energy might pay you a dividend, and peons can easily become peers or superiors in the future. You also win employees with energy.

Georgia 48

Georgia Dividend Atlanta Texas 48

JANUARY 9, 2014

No clear vision or purpose This should be the starting point for any startup founder, but it’s often overlooked. Whilst the tide is turning, there’s still a need to educate startup founders about the competitive advantage well-designed products and services can bring. Life’s too short to build something nobody wants.”

Early Stage 102

Early Stage Startup Cofounder Design 102

Mike Michalowicz

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

When I’m consulting with clients looking to invigorate and grow their businesses, one question I often ask is: “Who’s your most valuable employee?” Entrepreneurs don’t realize that they, themselves, are their most valuable employee, and that is a short-sighted position. You’re both an employee and a shareholder.

Dividend 113

Dividend Employee Revenue Hiring 113

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 27, 2018

by David Cordani, president and CEO, Cigna, and Dick Traum, founder and president, Achilles International. So, we devised a step-by-step process that clearly shows people – including young entrepreneurs – how to create and follow through with micro communities of their own to help cultivate the strongest workplaces and employee talent.

Community 100

Community Afghanistan New York City Georgia 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2021

Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS shoes, set a higher purpose of donating a pair of shoes to the needy for every pair sold, and found that the return was far greater than the cost of donated shoes. But these days, it can pay big dividends to go above and beyond to make people happy or benefit society.

Customer 432

Customer Social Media Dividend Technical Review 432

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 2, 2016

Mark Zuckerberg can tell you a horror story about how his early informal breakup with a co-founder ultimately cost him a settlement later worth four billion dollars. A co-founder who loses interest and backs out early will likely be back to claim his half after you reach unicorn status. Delay incorporating until required by investors.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Due Diligence Non-Compete Startup 120

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

The founders could reinvest this in growth (0% tax, focus on future equity growth) or take the profits of $12 million and divide amongst the founding partners. There is no shame in making a few million dollars in profit and paying yourself dividends while still owning a large percentage (if not all) of your business. interest?

Silicon Valley 332

Silicon Valley IP Dividend Finance 332

Startup Company Lawyer

MARCH 12, 2009

C corps, LLCs, and S corps differ significantly in the areas of taxation, ownership, fundraising, governance and structure, and employee compensation. If founders want the benefit of flow through tax treatment with respect to losses prior to an outside financing, an S corp election may make sense as long as there are no entity or non-U.S.

LLC 61

LLC Stock Options Preferred Stock Stock 61

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2016

Founder insistence on non-dilute clauses, arms-length relationships, and quick closure without due diligence will short-circuit active interest. Due diligence also normally involves onsite visits and employee discussions, so the entire team needs to be fully aware of expectations. Naïve expectations on funding terms and process.

Due Diligence 120

Due Diligence Intellectual Property Preferred Stock Seed Stage 120

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 9, 2015

But eventually, all successful businesses will have to start taking on employees, and that’s when the fun really begins. Their responses ranged from practical tips on hiring to what to look for in a first employee. See Also: Is It Time to Hire an Employee? Or at least, that’s the assumption. Favor potential over experience.

Hiring 60

Hiring Employee Technical Review Dividend 60

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

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. Most founders have a strong sense of what they’re trying to achieve. They hire their initial co-founders and early employees and everybody has a sense of “mission.”

Leadership 150

Leadership Southern California San Diego Hiring 150

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 1, 2015

Sometimes the end game or sale of the company is not a happy event for the early investors, including the entrepreneur or the founders. Most sophisticated investors will take either a promissory note or preferred stock, both of which come before founder or management stock in a sale or liquidation.

Dividend 48

Dividend Preferred Stock IRR Participating Preferred 48

ithacaVC

MAY 1, 2013

I read an article this morning in DealBook titled “ In Venture Capital Deals, Not Every Founder Will be a Zuckerberg “ Go ahead and give it a read. The article states “When venture capitalists invest, they typically demand preferred shares that accrue a yearly dividend of about 8 percent. This is RARE in VC deals.

Dividend 45

Dividend Liquidation Preference Common Stock Venture Capital 45

Up and Running

JULY 18, 2014

Recently our Bplans audience had the chance to attend a free webinar on Small Business Taxes, hosted by the CEO and founder of TaxAlli.com, Zach Olson. First, let me start off by giving you some more background so again my name is Zach Olson and I’m the founder and CEO of TaxAlli.com. Here’s why the S corporation is so attractive.

Small Business 87

Small Business LLC Nevada Software Review 87

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 5, 2013

” The consequences of employee depression cost billions of dollars in lost productivity. Figures range from $23 billion in lost productivity for employers to a staggering $193 billion annually in lost earnings for employees themselves, according to the results of a 2008 study in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

United States 133

United States Artificial Inteligence Harvest Dividend 133

The Equity Kicker

MARCH 30, 2016

Founders and investors in their startups have to choose which markets to attack and by extension which companies to compete with. Most often that’s done by looking for industries where there has been little innovation and/or the founder has a plan that leads to a sustainable competitive advantage.

Dividend 60

Dividend Startup Stock Algorithm 60

BeyondVC

NOVEMBER 17, 2016

We each independently fell in love with enterprise software 20+ years ago as seed investors (cos like gotomeeting/Citrix, greenplum/EMC, livperson/IPO LPSN) and founders (workmarket, onforce/Adecco, spinback/buddymedia/salesf0rce) and are now benefiting from the ecosystems, knowledge and network that we’ve collectively developed.

Cap Table 60

Cap Table Cofounder Dividend Institutional Investors 60

The Equity Kicker

MARCH 16, 2016

That’s a real shame, largely for their employees and investors (who put in $13.5m), but also because the product promise was amazing – sub $10 meals delivered in under ten minutes. This approach might mean harder work at the beginning, but as SpoonRocket has shown, it pays dividends in the end.

Dividend 60

Dividend Acquisition Demand Finance 60

Small Business Force

AUGUST 9, 2011

But, once all this migrates from the founder(s) to its first employee(s) is truly when it becomes a business.and when the actual DNA of the business is established. It was hugely paternalistic organization with well stated and well practiced values and the employee loyalty that the company engendered was incredible.

Stock Options 31

Stock Options Dividend Employee Stock 31