SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

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. Same Value for Sweat Equity as Investment Dollars? and we have 11.1%

Early Stage 391

Early Stage Equity CTO Hire Sweat Equity 391

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2020

So the first question I usually get is what percent of the company or equity is that person worth? Giving a co-founder a salary won’t get you the “fire in the belly” you want. Just because it was your idea doesn’t mean you “deserve” 90% of the equity. Amount of venture funding provided.

Cofounder 435

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Equity Intellectual Property 435

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. There are cases where I will do equity-only deals. who start with small equity percentages don’t end up making very much from startups.

Technical Cofounder 241

Technical Cofounder CTO Hire Equity Sweat Equity 241

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2023

Deferred payments start with stretching the payables period but, more importantly, include giving employee equity in lieu of a higher salaries and negotiating vendor deferred payments out of future revenues. This could equate to two technical founders (with a minimal salary), funding two developers for a year.

Burn Rate 258

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Management Salary 258

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2022

Angel investors and venture capitalists don’t make equity investments in nonprofit good causes. What options do they have available to them, since they can’t sell a share of the company (no equity investment)? There is no discussion of equity, or return on investment. Individual and institutional philanthropy.

Angel Investor 327

Angel Investor Equity Technical Review Exit Strategy 327

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. The data is a bit tough to deal with via a post, so I've shared it two ways: You can find a PDF with some analysis at: CTO Equity Compensation PDF.

CTO Hire 273

CTO Hire Equity Southern California France 273

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? Giving a co-founder a salary won’t get you the “fire in the belly” you want. Just because it was your idea doesn’t mean you “deserve” 90% of the equity. Amount of venture funding provided.

Equity 120

Equity Cofounder Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property 120

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

With one of the many new tools , and a dose of sweat equity, you can create a website for almost nothing -- and you are on your way to success with ecommerce, your latest invention or personal services. Use your equity for key executives and business partners. Bootstrapping doesn’t mean that you don’t share equity.

Equity 349

Equity Hockey Stick Bootstrapping Sweat Equity 349

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 23, 2023

Advisory Board members are often paid in a balance of equity (stock options) and cash (“cash” is the industry term for money wired to your bank account). Choose big for stability and higher salaries. The salaries are almost always higher. You may need to cover some portion of your own salary for a year.

Government 212

Government Advisory Board Salary Sales Cycle 212

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 18, 2011

During that time one of the founders had mentioned that for the initial agreed time (3 months, equivalent dollars could be translated to 2% of equity but no agreement was reached at that time). I tried to argue that the equity should be what it was at the time I joined and discussed but there was no formal agreement at that time.

CTO 167

CTO CTO Hire Equity Vesting 167

YoungUpstarts

MAY 19, 2020

Although it can seem daunting, salary negotiation gives you an opportunity to walk into a new role with a salary and benefits package that matches your wants, needs, and value. . Before you jump into salary negotiations, you’ll want to get clear on what your value is and what you can realistically ask for. Understand Your Value.

Salary 246

Salary Matching Conversion Equity 246

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2020

Deferred payments start with stretching the payables period but, more importantly, include giving employee equity in lieu of a higher salaries and negotiating vendor deferred payments out of future revenues. This could equate to two technical founders (with a minimal salary), funding two developers for a year.

Burn Rate 310

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Salary Angel Investor 310

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 18, 2011

During that time one of the founders had mentioned that for the initial agreed time (3 months, equivalent dollars could be translated to 2% of equity but no agreement was reached at that time). I tried to argue that the equity should be what it was at the time I joined and discussed but there was no formal agreement at that time.

CTO 150

CTO CTO Hire Equity Vesting 150

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2013

What options do they have available to them, since they can’t sell a share of the company (no equity investment)? There is no discussion of equity, or return on investment. This could work to get you legal or accounting services, but won’t get you cash to pay employee salaries. Individual and institutional donations.

Equity 207

Equity Angel Investor Technical Review Exit Strategy 207

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 10, 2023

At the Agency , 85% of my time was spent navigating bureaucracy and equities, arguing for resources and permission for operations, and dealing with the bottom rung of employees, all while making decisions with little data or data overload. This all came in handy when negotiating salary, title, and function. It wasn’t a big jump.

Government 174

Government CTO Hire Technical Review Advisory Board 174

David Teten

APRIL 1, 2021

I’ve recently advised a number of emerging private equity and VC funds who are wrestling with the question: What are the highest impact steps they can take to support their portfolio companies? . Almost every private equity and venture capital investor now advertises that they have a platform to support their portfolio companies.

Private Equity 78

Private Equity Venture Capital Portfolio Equity 78

The Next Web

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

There are a lot of variables to go into calculating a fair equity split a startup team. Understand that not all of this will be granted day one, with everyone having higher stakes in the short run, but you will have an equity cushion to play with as the employee base scales. Is this person taking a salary or not?

Cofounder 136

Cofounder Equity Founder Seed Stage 136

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

Deferred payments start with stretching the payables period but, more importantly, include giving employee equity in lieu of a higher salaries and negotiating vendor deferred payments out of future revenues. This could equate to two technical founders (with a minimal salary), funding two developers for a year.

Burn Rate 223

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 223

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2020

Most founders like to talk about their many months or years of sweat-equity , but cash invested is a stronger commitment. Calculate employee stock option values and vesting times, as well as salary. When did this effort really start, including pivots? Look for examples of similar companies and revenue multiples achieved from acquirers.

Technical Review 436

Technical Review Due Diligence Sweat Equity Burn Rate 436

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. Different types of equity compensation.

Equity 60

Equity Employee Stock Options Vesting 60

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2023

Most founders like to talk about their many months or years of sweat-equity , but cash invested is a stronger commitment. Calculate employee stock option values and vesting times, as well as salary. When did this effort really start, including pivots? Look for examples of similar companies and revenue multiples achieved from acquirers.

Sweat Equity 207

Sweat Equity Burn Rate Technical Review Intellectual Property 207

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

From traditional equity VC, Flexible VC borrows the option to pursue and reap the rewards of an outsized exit. Flexible VC 101: Equity Meets Revenue Share. Flexible VCs have created structures based on other company performance metrics than revenues, such as profits or founder salaries. Equity Ownership. Funder Category.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

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. Most non-founders have less than 2%.

Salary 198

Salary Equity San Francisco Dilution 198

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2014

The first question I usually get is what percent of the company or equity is that person worth? Giving a co-founder a salary won’t get you the “fire in the belly” you want. Just because it was your idea doesn’t mean you “deserve” 90 percent of the equity. Amount of venture funding provided.

Cofounder 261

Cofounder Stock Founder Technical Cofounder 261

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

Technology Roles in Startups Visualization of Startup CTO Equity and Salary Data Startup CTO Salary and Equity Data Hiring a CTO for Your Startup Startup Founder Developer Gap Startup CTO or Developer Part-Time CTO Technology Advisor CTO Founder Acting CTO Start-up Advisors CTO Equity - Negotiation After Funding Equity-Only CTO and Equity-Only Developers (..)

CTO Hire 175

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Startup Equity 175

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

Technology Roles in Startups Visualization of Startup CTO Equity and Salary Data Startup CTO Salary and Equity Data Hiring a CTO for Your Startup Startup Founder Developer Gap Startup CTO or Developer Part-Time CTO Technology Advisor CTO Founder Acting CTO Start-up Advisors CTO Equity - Negotiation After Funding Equity-Only CTO and Equity-Only Developers (..)

CTO Hire 175

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Startup Equity 175

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. Most non-founders have less than 2%.

Salary 175

Salary Equity San Francisco Dilution 175

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

It never hurts to ask in a job interview what stock options are available, and don’t fall for the offer which promises to “work out the equity terms later.” Offers near the high end of a range will likely come with a lower cash salary, maybe even 50% of the going rate. Advisory Board Member, 1% Senior Engineer,3 -.7%

Equity 237

Equity Stock Options Advisory Board Stock 237

The Startup Magazine

MAY 2, 2023

As part of The Startup Magazine’s Female Founder Interview series , today we present Minué Yoshida, owner of the New York-based Yoshida Academy which offers courses to help clients in mastering public speaking and leadership skills and diversity, equity and inclusion consulting. The first step was to acknowledge our current diversity.

Founder 149

Founder Equity Leadership Hiring 149

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

The cost of giving up more equity early is often more than offset by the increased flexibility to recover from mistakes. Pay people with equity or future revenue. Pay people with equity or future revenue. This will equate to 2 working founders (taking no salary), hiring a 5-person development team for a year.

Burn Rate 232

Burn Rate Startup Salary Equity 232

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Deferred payments start with stretching the payables period but, more importantly, include giving employee equity in lieu of a higher salaries and negotiating vendor deferred payments out of future revenues. This could equate to two technical founders (with a minimal salary), funding two developers for a year.

Burn Rate 262

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Entrepreneur Salary 262

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. Sometimes co-founders put off the equity split question for some time.

Equity 315

Equity Founder Sweat Equity Cofounder 315

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 28, 2011

The cost of giving up more equity early is often more than offset by the increased flexibility to recover from mistakes. Pay people with equity or future revenue. Pay people with equity or future revenue. This will equate to 2 working founders (taking no salary), hiring a 5-person development team for a year.

Burn Rate 231

Burn Rate Startup Salary Equity 231

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2017

Angel investors and venture capitalists don’t make equity investments in nonprofit good causes. What options do they have available to them, since they can’t sell a share of the company (no equity investment)? There is no discussion of equity, or return on investment. Individual and institutional philanthropy.

Angel Investor 132

Angel Investor Equity Technical Review Exit Strategy 132

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 24, 2014

When I was coming out of college, working in finance, I used to think a lot about my salary. I liked maxing out on raises and I liked the feeling I got getting to a six figure salary. It was, in my mind, what the salary meant. Show your employees how their salary effects the finances of a company.

Salary 130

Salary Venture Capital Equity Finance 130

www.avc.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Employee Equity: How Much? The most common comment in this long and complicated MBA Mondays series on Employee Equity is the question of how much equity should you grant when you make a hire. And the amount of equity you need to grant to accomplish these hires is also an art and most certainly not a science.

Equity 64

Equity Employee CTO Hire Fractional CTO 64

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. Across both the startups I’ve personally been involved in (PayPal and LinkedIn) and the startups in which I’ve been an investor, I’ve seen a broad range of co-founder equity splits.

Cofounder 255

Cofounder Equity Founder Sweat Equity 255