View from Seed

DECEMBER 4, 2014

Editor’s note: Understanding how to divide founder equity at a startup can be tricky, even to the point of reaching emotional riffs between founders. I like to say that “there are only co-founders” — it’s extraordinarily rare for a successful business to have just a sole founder.

Equity 315

Equity Founder Sweat Equity Cofounder 315

Agile VC

DECEMBER 4, 2014

I like to say that “there are only co-founders” — it’s extraordinarily rare for a successful business to have just a sole founder. But not all co-founders are equal in terms of title, ownership, responsibilities, and so forth. Sometimes co-founders put off the equity split question for some time.

Cofounder 255

Cofounder Equity Founder Sweat Equity 255

venturehacks.com

OCTOBER 21, 2010

Venture Hacks Good advice for startups. SUPPORTED BY Products Archives @venturehacks Books AngelList About RSS The Option Pool Shuffle by Nivi on April 10th, 2007 “Follow the money card!&# – The Inside Man, Three-Card Shuffle Summary: Don’t let your investors determine the size of the option pool for you.

Option Pool 68

Option Pool Pre-Money Valuation Dilution Warrant 68

crowdSPRING Blog

NOVEMBER 15, 2013

These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Six Key Benchmarks for Your SaaS Startup – crowdspring.co/1d6kQCY. Model Equity Calculator for Founders with Option Pool Expansion – crowdspring.co/1fwUdsA.

Social Media 93

Social Media Small Business Design Media 93

The Next Web

JUNE 15, 2012

From Silicon Valley to Peoria, Illinois, cash-strapped startups look for inventive way to finance their business – often handing out equity to employees, consultants, vendors, and other service providers. Speed is often of the essence early on in the startup lifecycle, and that often means rushing into casual arrangements.

Equity 116

Equity Stock Options Vesting Stock 116

Agile VC

DECEMBER 4, 2014

I like to say that “there are only co-founders” — it’s extraordinarily rare for a successful business to have just a sole founder. But not all co-founders are equal in terms of title, ownership, responsibilities, and so forth. Sometimes co-founders put off the equity split question for some time.

Cofounder 173

Cofounder Equity Founder Sweat Equity 173

www.instigatorblog.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Home About Contact My thoughts & lessons learned on startups, entrepreneurship, marketing and other stuff. Changing Equity Structures for Early Startup Employees Tweet Recently someone asked me for advice on how much equity they should give to their early employees. Those first employees will take 0.5-1%

Equity 41

Equity Employee Startup Vesting 41

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 17, 2009

These periods of time can leave a founder very vulnerable in the future. Assuming normal valuations at fund raising rounds you’ll be down to 6-12% after you’ve created a stock-option pool and raised capital. But these people seldom make retirement money from the stock options on these companies.

Founder Vesting 365

Founder Vesting Intellectual Property Stock Options IP 365

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

Want to start a startup? A typical startup goes throughseveral rounds of funding, and at each round you want to take justenough money to reach the speed where you can shift into the nextgear. Few startups get it quite right. 1 ] A startups life will be more complicated, legally, if any of theinvestors arent accredited.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

Since almost all startups do not possess traditional debt lenders, the list usually consists of data of the shareholders and the percentage they own. The range of investments in a startup can vary from three to seven figures. Later, when the startup develops and becomes profitable, the value of that stock can double or triple.

Cap Table 112

Cap Table Pre-Money Valuation Stock Options Option Pool 112

Agile VC

APRIL 17, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. 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. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. April 17, 2011.

Pre-Money Valuation 113

Pre-Money Valuation Liquidation Preference Dividend Common Stock 113

Austin Startup

JANUARY 25, 2020

Austin, TX Fast forward 4 years later, here I am working for a startup at the South By South West Tech & Music festival in Austin, TX. SXSW brings a huge chunk of the music and tech world together in one city every year in March, and most startups launch their products there every year. How did I get the gig?

Delaware 62

Delaware SEC New York City New York 62

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Point Nine Capital uses 15Five for continuous employee feedback. See Bessemer Venture Partners’ A comprehensive guide to security for startups. Tim Friedman, Founder, PE Stack , said, “If I could offer one piece of advice to today’s managers, it would be to take the time to understand the demands of the modern institutional LP.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

The Next Web

OCTOBER 21, 2013

Neil Rimer is a Partner and co-founder of Index Ventures. As the European startup ecosystem matures, you would expect young entrepreneurs to enjoy ever-increasing access to useful advice from mentors, business leaders, experienced entrepreneurs, legal advisors and investors.

Cap Table 128

Cap Table Option Pool Angel Investor Entrepreneur 128

Eric Friedman

DECEMBER 30, 2020

This did not end up happening at all but there are a few startups working in this space which I think have a shot 2/ NFTs (non-fungible-tokens) will emerge as a killer use case inside an incredibly fun game at a scale. 4/ Streaming equity – venture funds + employee stock becomes more liquid. No, but Salesforce bought slack.

Stock 120

Stock Private Equity Option Pool LP 120

Scott Edward Walker

NOVEMBER 26, 2017

Despite all the hype in the press (including with respect to the latest ICO craze), raising funds for your startup is still tough – particularly if you’re not located in San Francisco or Silicon Valley. The hard part, of course, is getting in front of “A” investors to pitch your startup. Tip #1: Get Warm Referrals to “A” Investors.

Term Sheet 63

Term Sheet San Francisco Founder Investment Bankers 63

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

It seems to be all the fad in the startup and VC world these days. I have these 3 ‘problem children’ that are having some difficulties (founder quit, product has no uptake, Facebook just copied them) but at least I have meaningful stakes. Collecting logos. Everybody assumes that somebody else is playing parent.

Strategic Investors 312

Strategic Investors Los Angeles Cap Table Startup 312

www.startupnorth.ca

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Home Events Contact Jobs StartupIndex Founders versus early employees by David Crow on September 10th, 2009 in Resources Not everyone can be a founder. We talk about the founders of startups and companies. We focus on the founders. The founders get press coverage. They get invited to speak at events.

Employee 41

Employee Founder Salary Equity 41

www.payne.org

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Startup Equity For Employees. 5 Stock vs Options. 6 Founders / Restricted Stock. The re-heating of the venture funded tech market has pushed a heat up of the hiring market, and Im getting more calls from friends asking for help understanding startup stock (equity) offers. From Payne.org Wiki. 3 Dilution.

Equity 56

Equity Employee Vesting Preferred Stock 56

techcrunch.com

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

This is an anonymous guest post from a well known startup executive: When we split the atom, Einstein remarked that everything changed but our way of thinking. You could make the same argument about acquisitions and option pools. The elephant in the room is that that founders and CEOs take almost all of it for themselves.

Liquidation Preference 63

Liquidation Preference Founder Option Pool Acquisition 63

Business Plan Blog

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

When it comes to the division of equity in startup, there is a similar process every entrepreneur must follow beginning with raising the first round of startup funding and, if you’re lucky, finishing at the point of IPO. Stage 2: Co-Founder. Startup Funding' Raising Funding From Family and Friends: Division of Equity.

Equity 61

Equity Option Pool Cofounder Vesting 61

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Startups and angels: Along the way to success. These include: ·       Vesting of Founder Stock. Especially in situations where the founders have a large position and are key employees, it is not uncommon for investors to request that they agree to have some portion of their holdings vest on a schedule.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

Hippoland

APRIL 10, 2016

Dear elizy : I started a company in school with two co-founders. But, Ada wants to split the equity 50% her, 20% Bob and 20% me with a 10% option pool. Although there are no set numbers, your professor should be considered as an active advisor or a co-founder who has left rather than a full-time co-founder.

Cofounder 48

Cofounder Cap Table Equity Vesting 48

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Advisor. ); STARTUP. Employee Benefits. Back in 1997, Randy Parker was staring at a blank whiteboard, wondering where hed find the money to hire the employees and consultants he needed to build his new product. "We a 50-employee provider of e-marketing solutions to small and midsize businesses, based in Needham, Mass. "We

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 4, 2009

This is part of my Startup Advice series. at a startup that has already raised $5 million the chances of you making your retirement money on that company is EXTREMELY small. So a friend recently called to ask for advice on becoming the CTO of a startup. He’d be employee number 3. Let’s face it.

Stock Options 418

Stock Options Stock Liquidation Preference Option Pool 418

Hunter Walker

MAY 7, 2014

I recommend to founders that if there’s a unicorn you need who isn’t on founding team, (a) start identifying those people in advance of fundraising and (b) prepare to compensate them generously via equity. Many first time founders haven’t run hiring processes before, especially outside of their functional discipline.

Hiring 108

Hiring Option Pool Early Stage Term Sheet 108

Business Plan Blog

SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

The final figure will depend on the client’s situation, including the number of employees of the company and the amount of capital that it hopes to eventually raise. 2: Issue Options According To Value Added And Risk Taken. Legal & Taxes Funding Legal Startup Phase' Whatever the percentage, it pays to plan ahead.

Stock Options 61

Stock Options Stock Option Pool Dilution 61

venturehacks.com

MARCH 21, 2008

Venture Hacks Good advice for startups. Or they bring you a handful of great employees. Many advisors want options they can exercise immediately —that’s fine. They’ll bring you leads for customers, employees, and investors. Disclaimer: This is not legal advice. See Part 1 for the rest.

Advisory Board 44

Advisory Board Cap Table Vesting Equity 44

www.mattbartus.com

DECEMBER 9, 2012

Perspectives on issues affecting founders, startups and investors from a veteran startup lawyer in Silicon Valley. If you are a company that is fundraising, keep in mind that there are a few different levers you can pull to change the amount of dilution that the founders will experience. Option Pool.

Warrant 40

Warrant Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet 40

venturehacks.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Venture Hacks Good advice for startups. Paul says, “Whenever you’re trading stock in your company for anything, whether it’s money or an employee or a deal with another company, the test for whether to do it is the same. Consider the opportunity cost of spending shares on employees and investors. SUPPORTED BY.

Equity 40

Equity Cap Table Valuation RSS 40

www.paulgraham.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Want to start a startup? October 2010 After barely changing at all for decades, the startup fundingbusiness is now in what could, at least by comparison, be calledturmoil. At Y Combinator weve seen dramatic changes in the fundingenvironment for startups. Most startups coming out of Demo Day wanted to raisearound $400k.

Valuation 92

Valuation Stock Partner Founder 92