A long-time friend and colleague, Steve Wexler, who is great at visualization took my Startup CTO Salary and Equity Data and produced a really need interactive visualization via Tableau. Of course, as you would suspect, equity percentages dilute based on years in business. MORE
Of course, not every equity compensation story is a David Choe Story. If you’re thinking about extending equity to an employee or a vendor (as in the example above), you should know that the topic is multi-faceted. In this article, I’m going to examine: What equity compensation is. MORE
As a result, one of the trickier things co-founders tackle is determining the equity split amongst the founding group of individuals. Sometimes co-founders put off the equity split question for some time. Both of these are typically reflected in the founder equity split. MORE
false As a cheatsheet, the “normal” equity structure is: Founder terms: 4 year vesting, 1 year cliff, for everyone, including you. Getting equity structures right. When it comes to equity terms, there are only 3 things to understand: vesting, cliffs, and acceleration. MORE
Todd Gitlin of Safire Partners was nice enough to compile some data on Start CTO Salary and Equity at Venture Backed Companies for the LA CTO Forum and present last year. You can find a public Google Spreadsheet with the data: CTO Equity Compensation Google Spreadsheet. MORE
In other words, the more difficult the terms or onboarding process (including the investment documents), the more likely the best startups would choose a different … Continue reading → The post Accelerator Investments Should Be Convertible Equity appeared first on Startup Lawyer. MORE
The two founders with the least equity happen to be the two tech founders. Some of us feel that we made a mistake when allocating shares in the beginning – there is one founder in particular who does not do any work, and he has the second-most equity (the split goes like this: 32%, 26%, 10%, 7.5% Then, each of you will end up with an increase of your pro-rata percentage of his equity. If you have equity alignments early in your company, deal with them. MORE
After all, sweat equity can make up for a trim marketing budget, but it would be hard to make up for cuts in product development and customer service without sacrificing customer experience. Accessing capital to launch a business is brutal for entrepreneurs just starting out along the path. MORE
The Texas State Securities Board voted 4-0 on Wednesday to approve new intrastate equity-based crowdfunding rules. The […] The post Texas Approves Equity-Based Crowdfunding Rules appeared first on SiliconHills. Austin San Antonio Crowdfunding Rules equity-based crowdfunding Texas State Securities Board By LAURA LOREK Reporter with Silicon Hills News Texas companies will soon be able to raise money from the average investor. MORE
Bigger/better advisors who get more equity have things like; excellent domain expertise to help you avoid pitfalls, deep connections within the industry to help with the intros, partnerships, and more. As a potential advisor looking to get involved with the company; MORE EQUITY! MORE
When someone goes to work for an early startup, the compensation package general includes an annual salary, health insurance, and, instead of fixed-cost performance upside, a percentage of unvested options to purchase equity in the company. Uncategorized equity VC MORE
Growth equity is increasingly being recognized as an investing discipline that is separate and distinct from venture capital. That being the case, how does one distinguish between a venture capitalist and a growth equity investor. MORE
ModCloth effectively treated the debt like growth equity, rather than recognizing the time bomb it could become. When the debt first came due in April 2015, existing ModCloth investors pumped in new equity to, in part, kick repayment down the road for two years. Once the income statement returned to the red, ModCloth again tried raising equity ― but prospective investors cited the debt overhang as their reason for passing on a company whose unit economics were otherwise fundable. MORE
Wealthfront Equity Plan from Wealthfront. The important similarities are that Andy and I both encourage companies to not only grant equity at the start date but also on an ongoing basis so that employees' equity ownership grows as their tenure and contributions grow. Where Andy and I differ a bit is how to calculate how much equity should be granted. I prefer to issue equity based on a multiple of current cash comp divided by the current valuation of the business. MORE
Understand where they were in terms of being able to pay or was this equity-only (sweat equity only). And he was still in the process of raising additional capital, so it was equity only. However, when I told him that the level of engagement required from me and the fact that equity-only development was required, he seemed to be a bit offended. There are cases where I will do equity-only deals. MORE
I was asked by a reader how much equity he should give out to early employees and to service providers in a very early stage startup. Founders are likely not paid for a long time and have a sizeable equity percentage for early risk and having the concept. MORE
It never makes sense to give anyone equity without vesting. The thing I love the most about Joel's post is he throws darts into a lot of conventional wisdom about founder equity allocation. I particularly like his notion that the person with the idea should not command a premium on equity allocation. Founding teams that allocate the founders equity fairly stay together a lot more than founding teams where one founder has a much better deal than the others. MORE
Last year, Austin companies received $626 million in venture capital, or 49 percent of the venture capital dollars for Texas, said Michele Skelding, senior vice president of […] The post Texas Proposes Equity-based Crowdfunding Rules appeared first on SiliconHills. By LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News In Austin, one of the big issues facing startups, particularly in the technology industry, is lack of access to capital. MORE
Let’s get right down to business: Dilution of founders’ and other early shareholders’ equity in startups is frequently a subject of intense interest and debate. Back from a hiatus, it’s time to venture forward once more. MORE
Equity dilution works when the same pie is divided among more people. Over time, other people receive pieces of equity in exchange for work (employee stock options), money (seed, angel and venture investors), services (attorneys, directors, etc.). MORE
This is a useful way to understand the meaning of “equity value” You learn in finance that equity value is the overall value of a the stock (i.e. equity) of a business, which in turn is the present value of all future profits. So equity value is a function of the degree to which you can make your market inefficient by making your business hard to copy (so called “defensibility”). MORE
Yet one of the first things a potential equity investor asks about is your exit strategy. Equity investments are not loans, so there is no loan payback period or interest payments. Find a private equity firm or friendly individual. entrepreneur equity investors IPO startup exit MORE
I’m seeing more and more growth equity financings come to market with an over-sized component of the financing allocated to existing shareholder liquidity. … Read more › The post Founder Liquidity and Growth Equity appeared first on Non-Linear. MORE
The question is, does being the first full-time paid employee affect that founder’s equity in the company? I can see two sides to this issue. The first is the founders that are not yet paid employees would think that the other is getting paid so FTE’s equity should decrease. Assuming this is the case, I think you can comfortably separate out the equity as a separate concept. Equity compensation equity founders MORE
VentureBeat wrote a post recently on debt versus equity which one is right for your business. So what I would like to do here is layout a more comprehensive framework for the pros and cons of debt versus equity and when you could look at each for financing your business. Equity. MORE
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. Below, Lee Hower offers advice for approaching these equity discussions objectively and properly. MORE
I spent a week in Europe a few weeks ago with our friend Eric who is a managing partner in a private equity firm. I’ve also had the pleasure of working on a board of one of our portfolio companies with a private equity investor who is making a few minority investments. Venture Capital and Private Equity are very different investment disciplines. 2/ Private equity can’t afford to lose money on an investment. MORE
Todd Gitlin of Safire Partners was nice enough to compile some data on CTO Equity and Compensation at Venture Backed Companies for the LA CTO Forum and present last year. You can find a public Google Spreadsheet with the data: CTO Equity Compensation Google Spreadsheet. MORE
Today Techstars announced an “ equity back guarantee ” for any company that goes through the Techstars program starting in 2015. So we decided to launch an equity back guarantee. The post Techstars Equity Back Guarantee appeared first on Feld Thoughts. MORE
Growth Equity and Growth Hacking: A Symbiotic Relationship Growth equity and growth hacking enjoy a symbiotic relationship. Although there are capital efficient ways to growth hack that don’t require growth equity, some growth hacks absolutely require capital. MORE
It’s been about three months since equity crowdfunding was opened up to all Americans. This change means that virtually any individual, not just the wealthy, will have opportunities to make equity investments in early stage companies. By Tom Walker, CEO Rev1 Ventures. MORE
Series AA Equity Financing Documents Y Combinator and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati are happy toannounce the Series AA Equity Financing Documents. MORE
Founders Dilemmas: Equity Splits. The following is an exclusive excerpt which sets up a common pitfall regarding equity splits. Setting the early equity split in stone is one of the biggest mistakes founders can make. Founders Dilemmas: Equity Splits. Lessons Learned. MORE
How to Divide Equity to Startup Founders, Advisors, and Employees. The part that I’d like to zero in on is when you’ve got a high growth company what are some of the best practices out there to distribute equity to the founders, advisors, and employees? Equity for Founders. MORE
Having seen these dilemmas derail countless startups, I wish every entrepreneur and prospective founder would read this book." - Eric The following is an exclusive excerpt which sets up a common pitfall regarding equity splits. MORE
Todd Gitlin of Safire Partners - a go to resource here in LA for recruiting C-level positions at startups - was nice enough to compile some data again this year (see last year's Startup CTO Salary and Equity Data ). You can also enter salary and equity data to see where you stand. MORE
An impromptu Twitter debate arose among Fred Wilson, Dave McClure, Mark Suster, Chris Dixon and others about convertible debt, priced equity rounds, and the nuances of early stage financing. Invested Interests angel investment convertible debt convertible note deal terms due diligence financials fundraising priced equity priced rounds tactics valuation valuations VCs venture capital MORE
We’ve just released our free Co-founder Equity Split tool. The post Co-founder Equity Split: A New Framework to Objectively Divide Startup Ownership and Get Back to Building a Business appeared first on The Gust Blog. Starting Your Company co-founders equity starting a company startups MORE
From a brand equity perspective, the purple hoodie was a unique way to acquire 2,000 die-hard brand advocates. Startups have been using branded apparel as a way to build brand equity for years. Image credit: Twitch. MORE
So the first question I usually get is what percent of the company or equity is that person worth? Just because it was your idea doesn’t mean you “deserve” 90% of the equity. The value in a startup is all about tangible results, so I see no equity value in the idea alone. MORE
Though still not fully phased in, the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act) which Congress passed in January 2012, kicked off a wave of business and investor interest in (and platforms to facilitate) equity crowdfunding. MORE
Equity Related Topics Feld Thoughts
SEPTEMBER 4, 2014
Today Techstars announced an “ equity back guarantee ” for any company that goes through the Techstars program starting in 2015. So we decided to launch an equity back guarantee. The post Techstars Equity Back Guarantee appeared first on Feld Thoughts.
A VC : Venture Capital and Technology
MARCH 20, 2017
ModCloth effectively treated the debt like growth equity, rather than recognizing the time bomb it could become. When the debt first came due in April 2015, existing ModCloth investors pumped in new equity to, in part, kick repayment down the road for two years. Once the income statement returned to the red, ModCloth again tried raising equity ― but prospective investors cited the debt overhang as their reason for passing on a company whose unit economics were otherwise fundable.
A VC : Venture Capital and Technology
NOVEMBER 20, 2013
Wealthfront Equity Plan from Wealthfront. The important similarities are that Andy and I both encourage companies to not only grant equity at the start date but also on an ongoing basis so that employees' equity ownership grows as their tenure and contributions grow. Where Andy and I differ a bit is how to calculate how much equity should be granted. I prefer to issue equity based on a multiple of current cash comp divided by the current valuation of the business.
Ask The VC
JANUARY 2, 2013
The two founders with the least equity happen to be the two tech founders. Some of us feel that we made a mistake when allocating shares in the beginning – there is one founder in particular who does not do any work, and he has the second-most equity (the split goes like this: 32%, 26%, 10%, 7.5% Then, each of you will end up with an increase of your pro-rata percentage of his equity. If you have equity alignments early in your company, deal with them.
A VC : Venture Capital and Technology
MAY 15, 2015
I spent a week in Europe a few weeks ago with our friend Eric who is a managing partner in a private equity firm. I’ve also had the pleasure of working on a board of one of our portfolio companies with a private equity investor who is making a few minority investments. Venture Capital and Private Equity are very different investment disciplines. 2/ Private equity can’t afford to lose money on an investment.
Startup Professionals Musings
AUGUST 24, 2016
So the first question I usually get is what percent of the company or equity is that person worth? Just because it was your idea doesn’t mean you “deserve” 90% of the equity. The value in a startup is all about tangible results, so I see no equity value in the idea alone.
Gust
APRIL 9, 2014
Equity dilution works when the same pie is divided among more people. Over time, other people receive pieces of equity in exchange for work (employee stock options), money (seed, angel and venture investors), services (attorneys, directors, etc.).
Up and Running
DECEMBER 1, 2015
Of course, not every equity compensation story is a David Choe Story. If you’re thinking about extending equity to an employee or a vendor (as in the example above), you should know that the topic is multi-faceted. In this article, I’m going to examine: What equity compensation is.
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. Below, Lee Hower offers advice for approaching these equity discussions objectively and properly.
SoCal CTO
FEBRUARY 22, 2011
Todd Gitlin of Safire Partners was nice enough to compile some data on Start CTO Salary and Equity at Venture Backed Companies for the LA CTO Forum and present last year. You can find a public Google Spreadsheet with the data: CTO Equity Compensation Google Spreadsheet.
Startup Lessons Learned
APRIL 24, 2012
Having seen these dilemmas derail countless startups, I wish every entrepreneur and prospective founder would read this book." - Eric The following is an exclusive excerpt which sets up a common pitfall regarding equity splits.
www.startuplessonslearned.com
MAY 4, 2012
Founders Dilemmas: Equity Splits. The following is an exclusive excerpt which sets up a common pitfall regarding equity splits. Setting the early equity split in stone is one of the biggest mistakes founders can make. Founders Dilemmas: Equity Splits. Lessons Learned.
Agile VC
DECEMBER 4, 2014
As a result, one of the trickier things co-founders tackle is determining the equity split amongst the founding group of individuals. Sometimes co-founders put off the equity split question for some time. Both of these are typically reflected in the founder equity split.
SiliconHills
OCTOBER 23, 2014
The Texas State Securities Board voted 4-0 on Wednesday to approve new intrastate equity-based crowdfunding rules. The […] The post Texas Approves Equity-Based Crowdfunding Rules appeared first on SiliconHills. Austin San Antonio Crowdfunding Rules equity-based crowdfunding Texas State Securities Board By LAURA LOREK Reporter with Silicon Hills News Texas companies will soon be able to raise money from the average investor.
Startup Professionals Musings
APRIL 27, 2016
Yet one of the first things a potential equity investor asks about is your exit strategy. Equity investments are not loans, so there is no loan payback period or interest payments. Find a private equity firm or friendly individual. entrepreneur equity investors IPO startup exit
SoCal CTO
FEBRUARY 22, 2011
Todd Gitlin of Safire Partners was nice enough to compile some data on CTO Equity and Compensation at Venture Backed Companies for the LA CTO Forum and present last year. You can find a public Google Spreadsheet with the data: CTO Equity Compensation Google Spreadsheet.
Ask The VC
APRIL 19, 2012
The question is, does being the first full-time paid employee affect that founder’s equity in the company? I can see two sides to this issue. The first is the founders that are not yet paid employees would think that the other is getting paid so FTE’s equity should decrease. Assuming this is the case, I think you can comfortably separate out the equity as a separate concept. Equity compensation equity founders
YoungUpstarts
NOVEMBER 17, 2016
It’s been about three months since equity crowdfunding was opened up to all Americans. This change means that virtually any individual, not just the wealthy, will have opportunities to make equity investments in early stage companies. By Tom Walker, CEO Rev1 Ventures.
Non-Linear Growth
DECEMBER 19, 2014
Growth Equity and Growth Hacking: A Symbiotic Relationship Growth equity and growth hacking enjoy a symbiotic relationship. Although there are capital efficient ways to growth hack that don’t require growth equity, some growth hacks absolutely require capital.
Early Growth Financial Services
OCTOBER 8, 2015
Though still not fully phased in, the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act) which Congress passed in January 2012, kicked off a wave of business and investor interest in (and platforms to facilitate) equity crowdfunding.
Non-Linear Growth
MARCH 12, 2014
I’m seeing more and more growth equity financings come to market with an over-sized component of the financing allocated to existing shareholder liquidity. … Read more › The post Founder Liquidity and Growth Equity appeared first on Non-Linear.
Eric Friedman
JUNE 27, 2016
Bigger/better advisors who get more equity have things like; excellent domain expertise to help you avoid pitfalls, deep connections within the industry to help with the intros, partnerships, and more. As a potential advisor looking to get involved with the company; MORE EQUITY!
Chris Dixon
JUNE 6, 2012
This is a useful way to understand the meaning of “equity value” You learn in finance that equity value is the overall value of a the stock (i.e. equity) of a business, which in turn is the present value of all future profits. So equity value is a function of the degree to which you can make your market inefficient by making your business hard to copy (so called “defensibility”).
The Startup Toolkit
FEBRUARY 15, 2013
false As a cheatsheet, the “normal” equity structure is: Founder terms: 4 year vesting, 1 year cliff, for everyone, including you. Getting equity structures right. When it comes to equity terms, there are only 3 things to understand: vesting, cliffs, and acceleration.
crowdSPRING Blog
SEPTEMBER 12, 2016
From a brand equity perspective, the purple hoodie was a unique way to acquire 2,000 die-hard brand advocates. Startups have been using branded apparel as a way to build brand equity for years. Image credit: Twitch.
SoCal CTO
NOVEMBER 1, 2010
Understand where they were in terms of being able to pay or was this equity-only (sweat equity only). And he was still in the process of raising additional capital, so it was equity only. However, when I told him that the level of engagement required from me and the fact that equity-only development was required, he seemed to be a bit offended. There are cases where I will do equity-only deals.
Inc Startups
FEBRUARY 5, 2017
Why It's Better to Raise Debt than Equity
Gust
APRIL 11, 2014
Let’s get right down to business: Dilution of founders’ and other early shareholders’ equity in startups is frequently a subject of intense interest and debate. Back from a hiatus, it’s time to venture forward once more.
Non-Linear Growth
JANUARY 10, 2014
Growth equity is increasingly being recognized as an investing discipline that is separate and distinct from venture capital. That being the case, how does one distinguish between a venture capitalist and a growth equity investor.
SoCal CTO
MAY 10, 2011
A long-time friend and colleague, Steve Wexler, who is great at visualization took my Startup CTO Salary and Equity Data and produced a really need interactive visualization via Tableau. Of course, as you would suspect, equity percentages dilute based on years in business.
A VC : Venture Capital and Technology
APRIL 14, 2011
It never makes sense to give anyone equity without vesting. The thing I love the most about Joel's post is he throws darts into a lot of conventional wisdom about founder equity allocation. I particularly like his notion that the person with the idea should not command a premium on equity allocation. Founding teams that allocate the founders equity fairly stay together a lot more than founding teams where one founder has a much better deal than the others.
Inc Startups
NOVEMBER 16, 2015
A dive into the statistics and lessons from the first two years of equity crowdfunding in the USA and the future of the new Title III Equity Crowdfunding rules
StartupCFO
JUNE 14, 2012
VentureBeat wrote a post recently on debt versus equity which one is right for your business. So what I would like to do here is layout a more comprehensive framework for the pros and cons of debt versus equity and when you could look at each for financing your business. Equity.
SiliconHills
MAY 16, 2014
Last year, Austin companies received $626 million in venture capital, or 49 percent of the venture capital dollars for Texas, said Michele Skelding, senior vice president of […] The post Texas Proposes Equity-based Crowdfunding Rules appeared first on SiliconHills. By LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News In Austin, one of the big issues facing startups, particularly in the technology industry, is lack of access to capital.
Gust
OCTOBER 15, 2012
An impromptu Twitter debate arose among Fred Wilson, Dave McClure, Mark Suster, Chris Dixon and others about convertible debt, priced equity rounds, and the nuances of early stage financing. Invested Interests angel investment convertible debt convertible note deal terms due diligence financials fundraising priced equity priced rounds tactics valuation valuations VCs venture capital
Up and Running
FEBRUARY 6, 2017
After all, sweat equity can make up for a trim marketing budget, but it would be hard to make up for cuts in product development and customer service without sacrificing customer experience. Accessing capital to launch a business is brutal for entrepreneurs just starting out along the path.
View from Seed
AUGUST 6, 2015
When someone goes to work for an early startup, the compensation package general includes an annual salary, health insurance, and, instead of fixed-cost performance upside, a percentage of unvested options to purchase equity in the company. Uncategorized equity VC
ycombinator.com
MARCH 2, 2010
Series AA Equity Financing Documents Y Combinator and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati are happy toannounce the Series AA Equity Financing Documents.
The Startup Lawyer
MAY 18, 2016
In other words, the more difficult the terms or onboarding process (including the investment documents), the more likely the best startups would choose a different … Continue reading → The post Accelerator Investments Should Be Convertible Equity appeared first on Startup Lawyer.
thinkspace.com
SEPTEMBER 7, 2012
How to Divide Equity to Startup Founders, Advisors, and Employees. The part that I’d like to zero in on is when you’ve got a high growth company what are some of the best practices out there to distribute equity to the founders, advisors, and employees? Equity for Founders.
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