Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2019

With the current strong economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. This approach is thus not viable for entrepreneurs already out of money. Increased jeopardy and less fun for the entrepreneur. Being a public company isn’t cheap or easy.

Merger 303

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 303

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

It was a stock option incentive related “expense” but I bet you didn’t know that because in an era where we only read the headlines — they must be a train wreck losing billions. I often ask entrepreneurs to consider, “What’s your objective? Revenue When I look at an income statement I start by focusing on the revenue line.

Stock Options 227

Stock Options Startup Dilution Venture Capital 227

crowdSPRING Blog

OCTOBER 10, 2014

Why entrepreneurs should learn to say “I don’t know” more often – crowdspring.co/1pGXXeF. Stock option questions startup employees should ask | Business Insider – crowdspring.co/1n8lUje. 5 Things I Learned Analyzing Buffer’s Revenue Dashboard | Ivan Kreimer – crowdspring.co/1xfTwMG.

Social Media 97

Social Media Small Business Design Media 97

Hearpreneur

DECEMBER 31, 2017

So that’s why we are excited about 2018 because there will be more and more entrepreneurs and businesses. Here’s something other entrepreneurs look forward to:: #1- Bring in a new team. I have spent a great deal of time studying the fundamentals of stocks, option trades, goal-setting, and public speaking.

Entrepreneur 61

Entrepreneur Stock Options Programming Washington 61

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

We’re hitting record revenue months, weeks, and margins. There are startups out there that are valued at a billion dollars, but because of employee salaries, assets, etc. Don’t be afraid to pivot The collapse of SVB spurred us to do a deep evaluation of how we’re generating revenue and value for customers.

Early Stage 110

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 110

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2018

With the current strong economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. This approach is not for entrepreneurs already out of money. Increased jeopardy and less fun for the entrepreneur. Being a public company isn’t cheap or easy.

Merger 198

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 198

The Next Web

AUGUST 12, 2013

It’s part three of a series, cross-posted from his own blog , in which he draws on his experience to offer advice for aspiring entrepreneurs in Europe and beyond. If you want to be an entrepreneur, think like an athlete and define your own mission. You can follow him on Twitter, where he is @ChristianReber.

Cofounder 119

Cofounder CTO Hire Startup Europe 119

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 6, 2021

The question for many entrepreneurs is, how do you start a business the right way with the right startup business structure? . Without them, you cannot earn any revenue. A common mistake made by entrepreneurs as they assess their startup business structure is to try and do everything themselves. Find Your Passion.

Limited Liability Company 163

Limited Liability Company Silicon Valley Business Model Stock Options 163

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 3, 2014

With the uptick in the economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. This approach is not for entrepreneurs already out of money. Increased jeopardy and less fun for the entrepreneur. Being a public company isn’t cheap or easy.

Merger 246

Merger OTC IPO Stock 246

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

At an accelerator … Me: Raising convertible notes as a seed round is one of the biggest disservices our industry has done to entrepreneurs since 2001-2003 when there were “full ratchets” and “multiple liquidation preferences” – the most hostile terms anybody found in term sheets 10 years ago. Your A round?

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet 417

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2010

As startup entrepreneurs we all want to work with them because having their name as reference clients makes it so much easier for marketing, PR, selling to other customers, fund raising and even recruiting. They negotiate a “master agreement&# to work with your company with some maybe minimum guarantees in terms of revenue.

Warrant 298

Warrant Dilution Startup Stock Options 298

Up and Running

MAY 17, 2012

Every year, the folks at Entrepreneur Magazine name an Entrepreneur of the Year. They’re looking for a person who makes a positive impact and improves their industry, employees, and community with a combination of ideas, leadership, and vision. Every employee gets a sense of ownership.

Entrepreneur 66

Entrepreneur Stock Options Stock Naming 66

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 11, 2015

With the daily demands of running a business along with the financial pressures and challenges inherent in early-stage companies, a business valuation may not be the first thing an entrepreneur thinks of when he awakes each morning. A company can have value, even if there is no current income or revenue.

Valuation 100

Valuation Stock Options CPA Merger 100

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

You know this isn’t likely to lead anywhere and frankly you didn’t quit your job to pursue your life dream of being an entrepreneur to sell 12 months later in an acquihire. So the tech team departed en masse to find the next great stock option scheme to make their big bucks. They see the dollar signs and the victory.

Startup 417

Startup Dilution San Diego Stock Options 417

Berkonomics

JULY 5, 2018

Or if you’re an employee with stock options, are you aware of the increases in value you can make with your efforts? Even small community service-providers can be sold to buyers hungry to get into a business already in revenue with a steady customer base. Dave’s book on exits.

Intellectual Property 90

Intellectual Property Management Stock Options Stock 90

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 4, 2009

I often have career discussions with entrepreneurs – both young and more mature – whether they should join company “X&# or not. Now … these are stock options and not restricted stock so you’ll likely be taxed at a long-term capital gains rate. Stock options are the icing on the cake.

Stock Options 418

Stock Options Stock Liquidation Preference Option Pool 418

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2015

With the uptick in the economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. This approach is not for entrepreneurs already out of money. Increased jeopardy and less fun for the entrepreneur. Being a public company isn’t cheap or easy.

Merger 120

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 120

Berkonomics

APRIL 4, 2019

On the other side, entrepreneurs and CEO’s usually have a natural fear of giving too much information to us investors after the initial investment is received. Shareholders may vote on other issues during the year by written consent, including acquisitions, stock issuance, changes to the articles of incorporation and bylaws, and more.

Stock Options 48

Stock Options Balance Sheet Stock Common Stock 48

Gust

DECEMBER 8, 2011

I urge all entrepreneurs to consult and develop a good working relationship with a qualified startup lawyer. Determine the allocation of equity among co-founders, early employees or other service providers, and future contributors as applicable, as well as the vesting schedule , if any, that will apply. Offer letters for employees.

Intellectual Property 139

Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement Delaware Stock 139

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2011

He says that you should never consider a public offering unless you are confident that the company will deliver increasing profits and revenue after the offering, so that the public buyer can anticipate a gain. Of course, you’re going to have to perform well to make that stock useful in the acquisitions process.

IPO 223

IPO Social Media Media Exit Strategy 223

Berkonomics

MAY 26, 2010

They include an expense account, company car, profit sharing, 401k contributions, medical coverage for dependents, free life insurance, educational payments, extra vacation, relocation expenses, paid trips to industry association meetings, or a small override on revenue from new products developed under the candidate’s watch. .

Employee 54

Employee Liquidity Event Stock Options Salary 54

Gust

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Entrepreneurs and investors who have spent any time dealing with convertible debt seed financing transactions are likely to have encountered the subject of valuation caps. MySpace was incubated by a small team of employees within Intermix in 2003 (Chris DeWolfe, Tom Anderson and four others).

Valuation 98

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Merger Vesting 98

Gust

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

Me: Raising convertible notes as a seed round is one of the biggest disservices our industry has done to entrepreneurs since 2001-2003 when there were “full ratchets” and “multiple liquidation preferences” – the most hostile terms anybody found in term sheets 10 years ago. It’s like we need a finance 101 course for entrepreneurs.

Liquidation Preference 153

Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet Stock 153

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Please see later version of this post on May 16, 2010 Entrepreneurs are often not experts in the area of term-sheet negotiations and all of the surrounding issues.   Investors sometimes “present” the terms they’d like and expect the entrepreneurs to react. Term-sheets and Valuations: Thinking about Negotiations.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

infochachkie.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Hands-on startup advice for emerging entrepreneurs. For instance, if a consultant proposes to help you with public relations, pay them a commission equivalent to the greater of a flat fee per story placed or a percentage of revenue generated from the PR coverage. infoChachkie. Thanks for visiting!

Equity 40

Equity Silicon Valley Cofounder Technical Review 40

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

How They Make Money : Facebook’s primary revenue stream is of course selling advertising on Facebook.com, which in total accounts for 85% of revenue. The next chunk comes from Facebook’s platform, in essence “taxing” the revenues of app developers like Zynga, which represents 15% of revenue.

IPO 100

IPO South Korea Venezuela Revenue 100

Scott Edward Walker

OCTOBER 27, 2015

If you hire any employees, make sure you don’t misclassify them as an independent contractor or fail to pay them at least the minimum wage (see post here ). Don’t issue stock options unless a proper option plan is in place and a valuation has been done in compliance with Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code (see post here ).

Intellectual Property 40

Intellectual Property Accredited Investor Vesting Delaware 40

Growthink Blog

JULY 2, 2010

That’s a lot of money, particularly considering that Vringo only generated $20,000 in revenues last year. It helps with recruiting top management talent, particularly since the value of/likelihood of exercising employee stock options appears greater. Last week, Vringo, a video ringtone company raised $9.2

Venture Capital 85

Venture Capital Stock Options New York Angel Investor 85

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2010

Moving on … My second post was directed at employees. If you’ve done it for a long time then I usually advise hiring managers to hire you as contractors and not full-time employees. No employees wanted to join startups – they were all looking for stable jobs. I learned about revenue recognition.

Venture Capital 285

Venture Capital Hiring Software Review Stock Options 285

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 28, 2022

The market regards equity as an ownership “share” in a corporation’s income revenue stream. Also, equity is utilized to incentivize employees to work together toward a similar goal, whether that objective is to become the next unicorn or to be acquired by a major corporation. Equity for Employees.

Valuation 108

Valuation Equity Warrant Common Stock 108

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 16, 2012

Do you get along with the employees? The best general rule of thumb is that if your role is to generate revenue for the company, then you are in Bucket X. If your role is not actively creating revenue, then you are in Bucket Y. What about company stock options? Long term goals? What will you be doing Day 1?

Stock Options 141

Stock Options Startup Stock Salary 141

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 11, 2014

Welcome back to Smart Bear Live … the show were Jason speaks with entrepreneurs looking to improve their businesses. How many employees would a medium-sized business have in your definition? Jason: If I’m managing my whole business with this tool, I don’t have 100 employees. They really like the tool.

Technical Cofounder 220

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Review Management 220

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 15, 2012

For help, we asked seven successful young entrepreneurs from the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) about what really attracts rock-star talent. (To At Fetch Plus, we encourage virtual office settings for our employees, and we find that teams see this as a major benefit when trying to balance work and personal life.

Developer 130

Developer Equity Ruby Cofounder 130

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

It is the first in a series of posts he’s writing about the decisions a young entrepreneur needs to make when she/he is first starting a business. One of the things I do as a founder of a later stage startup is to meet with early stage entrepreneurs to help them get their companies going. Unless that person is … you?

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 84

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JUNE 27, 2011

Most entrepreneurs would love to be in a position to have to decide! I just coached an entrepreneur who couldn’t decide whether to accept an offer for selling his business of nine years. Deal B gets you 70% of your number, but your employees are well-compensated both upon signing and with their annual compensation.

Sales 235

Sales Term Sheet Stock Deal Structure 235