Gust

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

It should therefore come as no surprise that an asymmetry of information exists, mostly gleaned from experience, between founders and investors in a venture financing deal. A term sheet for a convertible note deal may run two or three pages, versus 8-10 pages for a typical Series A Preferred Stock financing.

Finance 178

Finance Term Sheet Preferred Stock Bridge Financing 178

Scott Edward Walker

MAY 15, 2012

This post is the third part of a three-part primer on convertible note seed financings. Part 1, entitled “ Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Convertible Note Seed Financings (But Were Afraid To Ask) ,” addressed the basics. Part 2, entitled “ Convertible Note Seed Financings: Econ 101 for Founders ,” addressed the economics.

Finance 64

Finance Founder Accredited Investor Preferred Stock 64

Scott Edward Walker

APRIL 22, 2012

This post is the second part of a three-part primer on convertible note seed financings. Part 1, entitled “ Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Convertible Note Seed Financings (But Were Afraid To Ask) ,” addressed certain basic questions, such as (i) what is a convertible note? (ii) What Is a Conversion Discount?

Pre-Money Valuation 72

Pre-Money Valuation Finance Liquidation Preference Founder 72

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

The shares given out can either be common stocks or preferred stocks. ? Debt investment. I have interacted with a lot of founders who funded their initial business expenses through credit cards. If you are facing any problem you can always check out this: Business Loan vs. Equity Financing. Inception stage.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

Why do these founders get to stay around? Because the balance of power has dramatically shifted from investors to founders. VCs competing for unicorn investments have given founders control of the board. A pre-IPO board usually had two founders, two VCs and one “independent” member. Technology Cycles Measured in Years.

Founder 245

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 245

David Teten

MARCH 14, 2018

Managers of VC funds typically want to grow their business aggressively, just like the founders we back. Among the sites we have found most helpful with practical guides for founders: Biztree , First Search , Foundersuite , Goodwin Founders Workbench , Guides.co , Inc.com , and StartupRocket. .

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Cofounder 60

Scott Edward Walker

APRIL 9, 2012

Introduction We are in the golden age of seed financing. Venture capital funds, seed funds, super angels, angel groups, incubators, and “friends and family” are all playing the seed financing game and investing early in startups in an attempt to land the next Facebook. Why Can’t a Startup Issue Shares of Common Stock to Investors?

Preferred Stock 87

Preferred Stock Finance Common Stock Liquidation Preference 87

Business Plan Blog

NOVEMBER 13, 2013

Most startup founders do not have enough capital to launch their companies and need to raise money at some point. Convertible Debt Financing. Among the most common methods of funding used by startups when raising seed capital is “Convertible Debt Financing.” can be incorporated in the agreement at the time of financing.

Finance 93

Finance Accredited Investor Angel Investor Seed Capital 93

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

I talked also about 409a valuations and why common stock purchases cost less than preferred stock purchases. But most importantly I lectured founders that you can’t avoid the admin of setting up your ESOP. Most importantly we talked about my good friends at Okta who were financed by Andreesen Horowitz.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Term Sheet Valuation Stock Options 282

K9 Ventures

NOVEMBER 21, 2011

Let’s say you’re the founder (I use a solo-founder in my example to keep things simple, but this could just as well apply to a founding team) of a startup called Blood, Sweat and Tears, Inc. The objective is really to be able to get some risk off the table for the founders and not leave all their eggs in one basket.

Founder 87

Founder Common Stock Preferred Stock Stock 87

Gust

OCTOBER 5, 2011

Last week , we gave some attention to the “why” behind convertible note financing for early stage startups. As with so many subjects in law and finance, mastering the jargon is half the battle. This may seem like a no-brainer now that you understand the basic structure of a convertible debt financing.

Finance 79

Finance Preferred Stock Term Sheet Early Stage 79

K9 Ventures

NOVEMBER 21, 2011

Let’s say you’re the founder (I use a solo-founder in my example to keep things simple, but this could just as well apply to a founding team) of a startup called Blood, Sweat and Tears, Inc. The objective is really to be able to get some risk off the table for the founders and not leave all their eggs in one basket.

Founder 84

Founder Common Stock Preferred Stock Stock 84

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 7, 2012

Week three’s breakdown covered topics like how hard momentum is to turn around, and how participating preferred stock works. The founders were very sympathetic; a man, laid off from his job, and his very pregnant wife, who sold their house and investing $150k into the business and are working hard to make a go of it.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Technical Cofounder Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 110

Scott Edward Walker

JUNE 9, 2019

Over the past few weeks, two of my clients have received financing term sheets in which the investors requested super pro rata rights. Accordingly, I thought it would be helpful for founders to discuss these rights and to point out the problems they create for startups. This is a huge red flag and founders should push back very hard.

Preferred Stock 56

Preferred Stock Term Sheet Dilution Stock 56

Gust

JUNE 7, 2014

5) Senior Preferred Stock and warrants. 6) Any preference multiple on (5). 7) Junior Preferred Stock and warrants. 8) Any preference multiple on (7). 9) Common Stock (including any Preferred that converted to Common, any exercised options, and all Founders stock) and Common stock warrants.

Warrant 157

Warrant Preferred Stock Early Stage Common Stock 157

Gust

OCTOBER 21, 2011

To account for scenarios in which the startup is acquired before it has a chance to complete a priced equity financing round, most term sheets and deal documents contain a “ change in control ” provision. In descending order of preference from the founders’ point of view: 1. What happens to the outstanding convertible notes?

Finance 79

Finance Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet Liquidity Event 79

View from Seed

OCTOBER 15, 2014

So, rather than try and fill time unnecessarily and create a lengthy deck just because you’re “supposed to,” Rob — and we’d guess many other VCs as well — will often suggest that a founder create a simple one-sheeter that might start small and build over time. Finance is mission critical, for instance – it just appears on a recurring basis.

Seed Stage 331

Seed Stage Cap Table Metrics Burn Rate 331

Business Plan Blog

APRIL 10, 2012

Techcrunch just began a 3-Part series addressing convertible note seed financing that we feel our readers would be very interested in. But wait, what’s convertible note seed financing?? In layman’s terms, investors will give money to a startup but instead of getting money back, they get preferred stock in return.

Finance 40

Finance Preferred Stock Equity Stock 40

Scott Edward Walker

MAY 30, 2013

Many founders do not realize that officers of a corporation have the same fiduciary obligations as directors. It means every founder must be very careful whom he or she chooses as a co-founder or an investor. So How Can Founders Protect Themselves? Introduction. What Are the Fiduciary Obligations of Directors?

Delaware 68

Delaware Founder Cofounder Due Diligence 68

Startup Company Lawyer

MARCH 12, 2009

Any company that raises venture financing will need to be a C corp in order to issue preferred stock. If founders want the benefit of flow through tax treatment with respect to losses prior to an outside financing, an S corp election may make sense as long as there are no entity or non-U.S. Governance/Structure.

LLC 61

LLC Stock Options Preferred Stock Stock 61

Early Growth Financial Services

OCTOBER 2, 2014

In short, convertible equity is a form of financing that gives investors the right to preferred stock once a triggering event occurs. of all financings. So I figured now’s the right time to answer a few questions and fill in some blanks. So what’s that mean?

Equity 44

Equity Preferred Stock Seed Stage Founder 44

Gust

JULY 18, 2012

Yet I’ve rarely seen entrepreneurs more fired up than when recounting war stories of startups whose founders had control of the company wrested from them, were forced to take financing or compensation deals on outrageously onerous terms , or worst of all, fired from their own companies.

Stock Options 188

Stock Options SEC Stock Government 188

www.mattbartus.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Perspectives on issues affecting founders, startups and investors from a veteran startup lawyer in Silicon Valley. First, you’d probably want them to receive common stock, not preferred stock (which is the likely next round). Cooley Report Reviews Second Quarter Venture Capital Financing Trends. About Matt.

Equity 40

Equity Vesting Silicon Valley Intellectual Property 40

The Startup Lawyer

MARCH 1, 2010

“The Series Seed Documents are a standardized set of documents that can be quickly and easily deployed for a seed investment: to help get a company financed properly, legally, quickly, and intelligently.&#. 2) Series Seed Stock Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement. 4) Term Sheet. Check out the docs here.

Preferred Stock 79

Preferred Stock Term Sheet Redemption Registration Rights 79

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

Funnily enough I just answered this question yesterday on Quora when somebody asked, “Why would an early-stage investor specifically NOT prefer a convertible note structure to straight equity (e.g. a priced/valued preferred stock financing)?&#. Here is my answer with some minor editing: _.

Equity 319

Equity Early Stage Angel Investor Valuation 319

The Startup Lawyer

JANUARY 10, 2012

In most equity financing rounds, an investor will ask for (and get) a term called a liquidation preference. A liquidation preference is the amount that must be paid to a preferred stock holder before any sale proceeds may be paid to the holders of common stock (i.e., founders, option holders, etc.).

Liquidation Preference 73

Liquidation Preference Pre-Money Valuation Participating Preferred Preferred Stock 73

K9 Ventures

MAY 14, 2011

The founders of these uVC funds are entrepreneurs in their own right – either as people who have founded successful startups before, or as the founders of their own venture funds – which are also startups. In my view this means that these uVCs relate better to founders, creating for a more founder-friendly early stage investor.

Preferred Stock 125

Preferred Stock Seed Stage Incubator Early Stage 125

Up and Running

DECEMBER 1, 2015

Typically, employers that offer employees equity compensation will do so in the form of common stock, preferred stock, or stock options. As opposed to stock options where the employee can decide to purchase the stock or not, restricted stock is often “granted” or given to the employee.

Equity 60

Equity Employee Stock Options Vesting 60

The Startup Lawyer

JUNE 22, 2010

For this article, let’s assume this equity is the Series A Preferred Stock purchased by a venture capital fund. For example, if a venture capital fund purchases Series A Preferred Stock at $1.00 per share, the discount may allow the angel investor to purchase the same Series A Preferred Stock at $0.75

Pre-Money Valuation 82

Pre-Money Valuation Angel Investor Preferred Stock Valuation 82

ithacaVC

DECEMBER 13, 2013

They are typically pretty simple: (i) shares owned by founders and (ii) shares authorized for issuance in a stock option pool, some of which may be issued to employees already and some of which will be available for future issuance. If no additional equity is ever granted to Founder X and Founder Y, then Founder Y will ALWAYS own 1.63

Cap Table 67

Cap Table Pre-Money Valuation Option Pool Liquidation Preference 67

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

For angel groups, the distinction between groups and VCs on this issue is dwindling, especially as angel groups do bigger rounds of financing.   Note that this applies only to earl stage Series A-type equity financings and assumes no cash dividends are paid to investors.   First , dividends.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

thestartuplawyer.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

He obviously never launched a startup and got shafted by a co-founder. He obviously never launched a startup and got shafted by a co-founder. He obviously never launched a startup and got shafted by a co-founder. He obviously never launched a startup and got shafted by a co-founder. And that’s a big mistake.

Cofounder 40

Cofounder Founder Preferred Stock Startup 40

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

To better understand the arguments for / against convertible equity I suggest you read my posts on those topics: Is convertible debt preferable to equity? Was Paul Graham right in his “high resolution” financing post? Convertible debt WITH a cap is stupid for founders. Some thoughts on raising angel money.

Ratchet 354

Ratchet Liquidation Preference Equity Stock 354

Scott Edward Walker

SEPTEMBER 21, 2011

Not only will this scare-away many sophisticated angel and VC investors, but also the founders will likely find themselves constantly peppered with questions about their company and how things are going; not to mention turning holidays, like Thanksgiving, into stockholders’ meetings. the pricing) until the Series A round.

Preferred Stock 45

Preferred Stock Angel Investor Entrepreneur Common Stock 45

www.quora.com

JANUARY 16, 2011

looking for good samples with founder friendly terms 11 Answers Mark Suster , Venture Capitalist, Angel investor & 72 votes by Ty Danco , Brandon Wu , Jen Cheng , (more) Ty Danco , Brandon Wu , Jen Cheng , Anon User, Chris Stewart , Tristan Louis , Ravi Kannan , Vin Turk , Shane Lennon , Nicholas Swanson , Sachin Agarwal , Mircea Pa?

Term Sheet 41

Term Sheet Startup Angel Investor Wiki 41

Ben's Blog

JULY 16, 2013

In fact, if you are like most companies, your managers probably implied to your employees that your stock price would only rise as long as you were private. They might have said something ridiculous like: “Based on the current price of the preferred stock, your offer is already worth $5M.” As if the price could never go down.

Down Round 78

Down Round Marketing Preferred Stock Post-Money Valuation 78

The Startup Lawyer

MARCH 1, 2010

“The Series Seed Documents are a standardized set of documents that can be quickly and easily deployed for a seed investment: to help get a company financed properly, legally, quickly, and intelligently.&#. 2) Series Seed Stock Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement. 4) Term Sheet. Check out the docs here.

Preferred Stock 40

Preferred Stock Term Sheet Redemption Registration Rights 40