Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2016

The most effective and productive team members are positive, driven and want to be measured by results rather than hear work hours, perks or stock options. Teamwork inside the company and interacting with customers and partners outside the company are mandatory activities. Motivation and commitment to results.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Stock Options Salary Hiring 120

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 2, 2010

I always encourage people to allocate a few extra stock options to those that join super early when your company is risky and they just believed in you. I left an Octel (think email but with voice … yes, that’s what some businesses used before email!) “Mark, I’m an Associate Partner.

Europe 352

Europe France San Francisco Chicago 352

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 23, 2023

and here is the usual early-stage trap… First, a brand-new enterprise is often formed from the efforts of several “partners”, each with an expertise valued by the others. First you must create a stock option plan using your attorney, which must be registered in many states as a security offering. Here are some rules.

Equity 62

Equity Stock Options Vesting Early Stage 62

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2010

I learned how to retain employees when stock options were no longer a real currency. I sent numerous emails for another for a job opportunity and he is now a senior exec at a very prominent startup. I knew my partners for 8 years before joining GRP. I would do anything for these people.

Venture Capital 285

Venture Capital Hiring Software Review Stock Options 285

Berkonomics

JANUARY 25, 2024

Email readers, continue here…] One great source for coaches is among fellow members of a CEO roundtable organization, Young Presidents Organization or similar association where you are comfortable with the coach candidate and know something about his or her style. Where can you find the best coaches?

SBA 62

SBA Warrant Stock Options Vesting 62

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 8, 2013

This often comes in the form of long emails or tedious board discussions about compensation and bonus programs. My partner Dave and I took the number, made a list of all employees, and figured out how much we were going to give each of them. Now, I’m not a huge fan of programatic bonuses. We did this on an accrual basis.

Stock Options 146

Stock Options Technical Review Leadership Equity 146

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

Called Tim Spicer (c-companies partner) and he told him matt, they only want one thing, more warrant coverage!!! Mark: 10% warrant coverage is like stock options. Icing is the warrant for banks – stock they can buy in future but don’t have to buy so they make their $$ later in the future. And he said ok got it.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Warrant Customer Term Sheet 304

thinkspace.com

SEPTEMBER 7, 2012

That’s where a good partner agreement comes into play. Not only do you want to allocate ownership, but you want to re-allocate ownership if either partner fails to deliver. You can email me at thnkspc (aatt) impressthenet dot com. P.S. I was having email issues earlier which have since been resolved. PHP Veteran.

Equity 62

Equity Employee Founder CTO Hire 62

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

Your historical trading information including financials and a “customer file” which shows the history of your transactions so that investors can run “cohort” analyses Customer reference, personal references, key team members, compensation, cap table, stock option plan, etc. Some people find this elitist?—?I

Cap Table 336

Cap Table Due Diligence Forecast Churn Rate 336

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2019

cash & unallocated stock options) Should we raise capital, from whom, how much and at what price? Every year I invited my largest investors to NYC to have an LPAC meeting (Limited Partner Advisory Committee?—?kind Should we cut costs, do layoffs, close divisions and focus scare resources on fewer projects?

LP 269

LP Startup Burn Rate Stock Options 269

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 13, 2010

Then along comes either money or contracts from strategic or financial investors or partners. Compensation’s charter is to approve stock option grants for any employee, no matter how small the grant, and all salary and benefits for at least the CEO if not the next level down, to avoid conflict of interest with the CEO.

Covenant 59

Covenant Software Review Stock Options Vesting 59

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

Ten back and forth emails can often be resolved in a 30-second phone conversation. After all, you’ve likely given your employees stock options which make them part-time business owners as well. His vision is to create a logistics company that curates trust from its employees to the shippers and carriers they partner with.

Early Stage 110

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 110

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 28, 2017

Here’s an example: First, a brand-new enterprise is often formed from the efforts of several “partners”, each with an expertise valued by the others. First you must create a stock option plan using your attorney, which must be registered in many states as a security offering. How many options are appropriate for a grant?

Early Stage 102

Early Stage Equity Stock Options Vesting 102

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 7, 2017

Email readers, continue here…] How do you pay a coach? Some charge by the hour, making themself available much as an attorney, keeping track of hours spent on phone calls and emails with you. And some will willingly work for stock options, an amount to be negotiated based upon time spent and stage of corporate development.

Warrant 97

Warrant Stock Options Vesting Equity 97

www.joelonsoftware.com

MARCH 24, 2010

Teamwork skills are excellent at the project, company, and industry-partner levels. As the company grows, the initial package of stock options offered to new hires will be lower and lower. At any given time, stock option awards are equal based on level. Once a year well grant people more stock options.

Software Review 48

Software Review Stock Options Salary Technical Review 48

joel.is

DECEMBER 10, 2013

How we handle team emails at our startup: Defaulting to transparency. One thing he asked me is how we think about email at Buffer. Within the Buffer team we have complete compensation transparency and every team member knows each others’ salary and equity stake through stock options. Im Founder & CEO of Buffer.

Email 55

Email Startup Stock Options Metrics 55

Agile VC

JUNE 5, 2011

How They Do It: Build email list of consumers interested in local deals (mainly via paid search & social network ads), sell coupon programs to merchants via telesales. Also the proportion of email subscribers who’ve bought a Groupon has held up reasonably well. My partner @ LeeHower looks back: [link] 5 days ago Search.

North America 100

North America Chicago Boston Silicon Valley 100

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Email address: Home. I advise my clients that you offer stock only after youve searched your heart and soul and cant come up with a way to pay with anything else," says Thomas H. Durkin , managing partner with the Boston -based law firm Lucash, Gesmer & Updegrove LLP. Related resources at inc.com: How to Take Stock.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

www.thedailymuse.com

SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

You don’t want a senior partner preparing documents for an incorporation, nor do you want a third-year lawyer negotiating with a seasoned venture capitalist for you. A junior lawyer at a small firm in a smaller city may charge $150 an hour, while senior partners in big firms in major cities have been known to charge over $1,000 an hour.

Hiring 56

Hiring LLC Intellectual Property Private Equity 56

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

I recommend partnering with a VC if possible, as it increases the exposure and quality of turnout for the event. Leverage LinkedIn by searching the profiles of intriguing candidates, and upgrade your account so that you can send many of them cold emails. Make the benefits of startups and stock options very clear.

Silicon Valley 121

Silicon Valley Asia Engineer Stock Options 121

www.drowningamerican.com

JUNE 22, 2012

The first time we hired partners for Kibin was way back in late 2009. I’m not FaceBook or Twitter and have a s**t-ton of potentially imminent IPO stock options to offer someone. THEN Email your resume, any links to projects you have done, and any relevant information. Share Facebook Email Digg Reddit StumbleUpon.

Sweat Equity 40

Sweat Equity Equity Hiring Technical Review 40

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 11, 2014

We use email; we use Word; we use task manager; we use a file sharing tool. Meetings are definitely one of those places, but email is another primary way that that comes in. So that’s a very simple way of saying it’s task management, but it’s getting rid of emails that of course no one wants emails.

Technical Cofounder 220

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Review Management 220

Berkonomics

MAY 12, 2010

First you must create a stock option plan using your attorney, which must be registered in many states as a security offering. Email readers continue here.] An option plan should carve out an addition of about 15% of the “fully diluted” shares. In other words, you cannot create bargain options at below “market rates.”

Early Stage 85

Early Stage Equity Stock Options Vesting 85

Berkonomics

JULY 3, 2010

Email readers continue here.] Some charge by the hour, making themsef available much as an attorney, keeping track of hours spent on phone calls and emails with you. And some will willingly work for stock options, an amount to be negotiated based upon time spent and stage of corporate development.

Warrant 71

Warrant Stock Options Vesting Equity 71

infochachkie.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Instead of hearing from your long lost third-cousin, you will be inundated with an avalanche of ‘congratulatory’ emails, calls and letters from people who want to relieve you of the burden of your hard-earned equity round. The final straw came when I asked the latest 25-year old a simple ‘yes / no’ question related to stock options.

Equity 40

Equity Silicon Valley Cofounder Technical Review 40

Austin Startup

SEPTEMBER 9, 2018

Send them email updates often. I personally used to send email updates about Bazaarvoice as often as three times per week and almost always at least once per week. For example, I would send an update of a major client win, such as OpenTable, and get an email response from one of our investors that is friends with the CEO.

Advisory Board 48

Advisory Board Balance Sheet Stock Options Email 48

Transformify

NOVEMBER 30, 2019

Jana handles everything from strategic business formation to employee matters, stock options, partnership agreements, partner disputes, confidentiality agreements, buyouts, global trademark registration, commercial leases and all stages of startup funding, and corporate restructuring.

Intellectual Property 83

Intellectual Property Employee Software Review New York City 83

The Next Web

AUGUST 14, 2013

Send them a quick email and they might be willing to give intros for you. You’ll hear terminology getting bandied about left and right about things like convertible notes, capped vs. uncapped, stock option pools, board observer rights, maturity dates, priced equity. AngelList is all the rage these days.

Founder 142

Founder Incubator Cofounder Accredited Investor 142

venturehacks.com

OCTOBER 21, 2010

What if the founder already included an option pool in the existing shares outstanding? For example, assume 5M shares outstanding out of which 20% (or 1M shares) is reserved for employee stock options. post response here or email me at johngalt@jubii.co.uk. Stock Plans: Give the People What They Want - May 3, 2010 [.]

Option Pool 68

Option Pool Pre-Money Valuation Dilution Warrant 68

Ben's Blog

APRIL 21, 2010

Six Months Later… Fast-forward six months and everyone in the company is wondering why the sales (or marketing or finance or product) guy who has produced nothing got such a monster stock option package. Meanwhile, the people doing all the work have much fewer options. Everyone wanted a piece of me.

Stock Options 78

Stock Options Restful Hiring Sales 78

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

In Meebo’s case, for example, I was lucky enough to partner up with Elaine and Sandy. No looking for partnerships (who’s going to partner with you anyway?). Trust me, once you’ve launched and achieved traction, you’ll have your pick of mentors, VCs, partners and all the legal expenses you need. Partner up? No legal muck.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 84

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

Ifyour competitors offer employees stock options that might make themrich, while you make it clear you plan to stay private, yourcompetitors will get the best people. Just go to their website and send them an email. Not all the people who work at VC firms are partners. Dont be misled by thisoptimism.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

thestartuplawyer.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

Your Business Partner Closer,&# was a reformatted version of a blog post titled “Keep Your Startup Co-Founder Closer&# which appeared in Ryan Roberts PC’s blog for startups and entrepreneurs, The Startup [.] He obviously never launched a startup and got shafted by a co-founder. Leave a Reply Click here to cancel reply.

Cofounder 40

Cofounder Founder Preferred Stock Startup 40