Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 28, 2010

In the early fall of 2009, as kaChing prepared for its marketplace launch, the management team showed the app—which included real time market data, SEC-grade accounting, analytics, compliance and customer management tools—to a number of investment pros to get feedback and endorsements. Thus far the results are encouraging.

San Francisco 158

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment SEC 158

Austin Startup

JANUARY 25, 2020

But before we got back to work, we had to hire a lawyer to help out with both the SAFE docs and to file our FORM D with the SEC so we can register our raise. Having raised it under Rule 504 of Regulation D of the Securities Act of 1933, the law requires us to file with the SEC. The lawyer’s rate was crazy?—?$575 575 per hour?—?and

Delaware 62

Delaware SEC New York City New York 62

Haystack

DECEMBER 29, 2018

Influenced by the rapid growth of the bike-sharing craze in China, a savvy Uber employee spun out to create Bird. Consider the above paragraph versus how this year started. Launching out of Santa Monica, Bird grew like crazy, triggering U.S. bike-sharing company Lime to pivot to Scooters.

Technical Review 165

Technical Review Venture Capital Russia China 165

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 2, 2020

Public accounting helps ensure that your company is meeting the guidelines set by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), as well as the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Your employees should also be adept in this technique to ensure that everyone is on the same page. It’ll Be Worth It.

Securities and Exchange Commission 167

Securities and Exchange Commission Finance SEC Software 167

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 1, 2020

Before your financial statements can be filed with the SEC or distributed outside of your business, an external auditor must ensure your records adhere to GAAP. You should begin expensing stock options as soon as your business has full-time employees. The Financial Accounting Standards Board establishes these standards.

CPA 165

CPA Stock Options Valuation Stock 165

Mike Michalowicz

APRIL 12, 2017

After a rocky leadership, profanity laced memos to the SEC, fuzzy accounting practices, SEC investigations, and a whopping 77 percent decline in the company’s share price, Mason now joins the ranks of the unemployed. Andrew Mason, 32, the charismatic, but controversial CEO of Groupon, has been fired. The firing wasn’t a surprise.

Customer 107

Customer SEC Stock .Net 107

Women Entrepreneurs Can

NOVEMBER 27, 2023

These programs are typically required for any company that wants to maintain its status as a certified public accountant; for example, they must follow specific reporting requirements set forth by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Private Equity 52

Private Equity Equity Due Diligence Securities and Exchange Commission 52

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 27, 2020

The problem in taking such money rests in the legality of taking money from non-accredited investors, people who do not meet the SEC standard for making non-public company investments. And now that “crowd sourcing” has been enabled using the Internet – seeking many investors at a small amount per investment. The legality issues.

Cap Table 62

Cap Table Private Placement SEC Accredited Investor 62

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 5, 2019

Entrepreneurs nowadays want to boast about brand-name investors, huge rounds of funding, and a team of high-skill employees. Did the former head of the SEC just join your board of directors? Growth rates don’t pay employee salaries. Are you fresh out of Y Combinator with $1 million in funding at a $10 million valuation?

Valuation 162

Valuation Cofounder Metrics SEC 162

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 15, 2017

You’ll also be able to employ remote workers or give employees the flexibility to work from home, making employees both happier and more productive. Some DMS have a web portal, you’re able to share documents quickly and securely with clients or employees. Safe and Secure.

Mobile 113

Mobile Management SEC Flash 113

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2018

In addition, officers may face liability for misrepresentations or speaking out in public and SEC reports. If you want to give stock options, or have already been giving them, the employees will love the liquidity of their options, and the thought of selling shares for a profit. Analysts want escalating profits.

Exit Strategy 128

Exit Strategy IPO Initial Public Offering SEC 128

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 6, 2014

In addition, officers may face liability for misrepresentations or speaking out in public and SEC reports. If you want to give stock options, or have already been giving them, the employees will love the liquidity of their options, and the thought of selling shares for a profit. Analysts want escalating profits.

IPO 236

IPO Initial Public Offering Startup Small Business Administration 236

Feld Thoughts

DECEMBER 29, 2011

In my book, there is only one real reason for this – to a ttract new potential employees : “We’ve just raised $X and are hiring 20 people including types A through types Q – see our jobs page at jobs.companyname.com and apply now.” When you do a financing, you file something called a Form D with the SEC.

Finance 133

Finance SEC Term Sheet Acquisition 133

Berkonomics

AUGUST 20, 2020

Email readers, continue here…] First, should you inform your employees of the deal? Paying commissions to undisclosed third parties in order to obtain deals, hiding or entering misleading financial data, associating with anyone with a past SEC suspension, and many more “gotcha” events, qualify as strong deterrents to a good closing.

Due Diligence 71

Due Diligence Intellectual Property SEC Lean 71

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 29, 2016

These people deserve a raise–nothing extravagant (we’ll get to why in a sec), but enough to make a difference for them. You will also probably want to expand your employee pool by at least a few people. Make sure you are following the letter of the law and not just trying to get free employees. Saving and Investing.

Portland 113

Portland SEC Hosting Hiring 113

K9 Ventures

JULY 12, 2018

Founders, employees, and early investors have lives to lead (getting married, buying houses, having kids) and funds to return (most venture funds have a 10+2 year cycle and need to provide liquidity for their LPs at the end of the life of the fund). However, companies are still issuing options with 4 year vesting cycles.

IPO 119

IPO Marketing Accredited Investor SEC 119

Gust

NOVEMBER 15, 2012

But by far the biggest issue is that the very essence of public markets (and what makes them “public”) is that the SEC mandates an enormous amount of transparency, including complete quarterly financial statements, complete publication of the company’s cap table including all significant shareholders, and so forth.

Seed Stage 131

Seed Stage Hockey Stick Cap Table Liquidation Preference 131

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2016

In addition, officers may face liability for misrepresentations or speaking out in public and SEC reports. If you want to give stock options, or have already been giving them, the employees will love the liquidity of their options, and the thought of selling shares for a profit. Analysts want escalating profits.

IPO 120

IPO Initial Public Offering SEC Stock Options 120

crowdSPRING Blog

APRIL 5, 2013

Google’s Secrets Of Innovation: Empowering Its Employees | Forbes – [link]. SEC Greenlights One Style Of Equity Crowdfunding For Startups | TechCrunch – [link]. | by Daniel Burrus – [link]. The Secret to a Strong Branding Message? by Adam Kleinberg – [link]. ” – [link].

Social Media 92

Social Media Small Business Design Media 92

Gust

JULY 18, 2012

For that reason, approval of the latest employee stock option grants recommended by the CEO is a routine action item at most startup Board meetings. The reason is that Sony, as a publicly traded company, is obligated by stock exchange rules and SEC regulations to appoint committees of the Board with specific responsibilities.

Stock Options 188

Stock Options SEC Stock Government 188

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

According to the SEC we’re not allowed to market the fact that we’re fund raising, so I won’t. Recruit employees in the blind belief that the amazing job they’re quitting to join you will be worth it in the long run. Early on in my first company I had an employee ask if it was a good time to buy a home.

Monaco 420

Monaco Cofounder Chicago Mexico 420

View from Seed

MAY 16, 2019

Practically speaking this doesn’t mean that all of the shares owned by founders, investors, employees (RSUs), or others will be available to trade immediately as they will need to be converted and registered for public trading. But it does mean that traditional 180 day lock-up periods won’t generally apply to existing Slack shareholders.

Lock-up Period 168

Lock-up Period Retention Azure .Net 168

Mike Michalowicz

MARCH 4, 2013

After a rocky leadership, profanity laced memos to the SEC, fuzzy accounting practices, SEC investigations, and a whopping 77 percent decline in the company’s share price, Mason now joins the ranks of the unemployed. Andrew Mason, 32, the charismatic, but controversial CEO of Groupon, has been fired. The firing wasn’t a surprise.

SEC 68

SEC Stock .Net Leadership 68

Version One Ventures

APRIL 8, 2014

In just a few clicks, you can find everything from the company’s tagline to information on founders and investors, number of employees, funding rounds, etc. The product collects, cleans, and curates data from news sites, SEC filings, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, AngelList, CrunchBase, and more.

Venture Capital 160

Venture Capital Vertical Curation SEC 160

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. I generally avoid LLCs as most technology startup companies need to grant options to employees and consultants, and there is no easy “off the rack&# method to do this. residents.

LLC 61

LLC Stock Options Preferred Stock Stock 61

BeyondVC

FEBRUARY 15, 2017

Anti-phishing, employee training? Dev Sec Ops finally getting attention – as we move to world of continuous integration and deployment, incorporating security as early as possible will be critical and this means with the developers. Getting rid of passwords can also help – biometrics?

Security 74

Security Artificial Inteligence Stealth SEC 74

Berkonomics

MARCH 8, 2012

The problem in taking such money rests in the legality of taking money from non-accredited investors, people who do not meet the SEC standard for making non-public company investments. And even more recently, “crowd sourcing” has been enabled by the Internet – seeking many investors at a small amount per investment.

Cap Table 74

Cap Table Private Placement SEC Accredited Investor 74

Agile VC

MAY 16, 2019

Practically speaking this doesn’t mean that all of the shares owned by founders, investors, employees (RSUs), or others will be available to trade immediately as they will need to be converted and registered for public trading. But it does mean that traditional 180 day lock-up periods won’t generally apply to existing Slack shareholders.

Lock-up Period 100

Lock-up Period Retention Azure .Net 100

Gust

NOVEMBER 23, 2011

The Securities Act of 1933 requires that any type of securities offered to the public be registered with the SEC, involving a major undertaking to prepare and file a registration statement on Form S-1 – known to many as an IPO prospectus. To avoid this situation, a company like Facebook will choose to go public prematurely.

IPO 110

IPO Prospectus SEC Intellectual Property 110

www.geekwire.com

JULY 10, 2012

Meanwhile, SEC filings indicate that Frazier Healthcare and Voyager Capital — both of Seattle — are on the prowl for more money. million of what partners hope will be a much larger fund. It appears to be a good time to look. Register here for GROWConference, 8/21-23, Vancouver BC, Enter code wire for GeekWire discount. Are you Tableau?

Venture Capital 42

Venture Capital Seattle Cofounder Software Engineering 42

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 26, 2013

First, should you inform your employees of the deal? Paying commissions to undisclosed third parties in order to obtain deals, hiding or entering misleading financial data, associating with anyone with a past SEC suspension, and many more “gotcha” events, qualify as strong deterrents to a good closing.

Due Diligence 85

Due Diligence Liquidity Event Intellectual Property SEC 85

Gust

OCTOBER 2, 2014

According to the SEC we’re not allowed to market the fact that we’re fund raising, so I won’t. Recruit employees in the blind belief that the amazing job they’re quitting to join you will be worth it in the long run. Early on in my first company I had an employee ask if it was a good time to buy a home. My employees.

Monaco 122

Monaco Cofounder Chicago Mexico 122

Austin Startup

JANUARY 13, 2011

This week CacheIQ’s filings with the SEC were discovered, and they’ve apparently raised $6M from 27 different investors. Build a company, create value, create jobs, and the innovate the next cycle of value for yourself, your investors, and your employees. Austin needs more entrepreneurs like Joel.

SEC 59

SEC Institutional Investors Austin Employee 59

Gust

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

This discussion expands on my Quora answer to a specific question: “ Why were the stock options of MySpace employees worthless even though the company was sold to News Corporation for hundreds of millions? ” The complete story includes a startup-within-a-startup, investments and exits by two VC firms, and some genuine corporate drama.

Valuation 98

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Merger Vesting 98

Ben's Blog

OCTOBER 29, 2020

The company also asserted greater control over the allocation process – deciding which investors got how many shares – a process often relegated to the underwriting bank, and increased its float by allowing secondary selling on day one (employees, former employees, executives and directors could sell 15% of shares on open).

IPO 36

IPO Securities and Exchange Commission Demand SEC 36

Board Effect

AUGUST 14, 2023

Communicating with stakeholders: The board should communicate the organization’s cyber risk management strategy and its incident response plan (at a high level) to stakeholders such as shareholders, employees and customers.​ How does the board evaluate the effectiveness of the company’s cybersecurity efforts?​

Technical Review 52

Technical Review Government Security Framework 52

Board Effect

AUGUST 14, 2023

Communicating with stakeholders: The board should communicate the organization’s cyber risk management strategy and its incident response plan (at a high level) to stakeholders such as shareholders, employees and customers.​ How does the board evaluate the effectiveness of the company’s cybersecurity efforts?​

Technical Review 52

Technical Review Government Security Framework 52