SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 14, 2012

I was just asked about a particular startup situation (seed stage, CMO hire, non-founder) and particularly what compensation and equity is appropriate. Quick & Dirty How-To: Employee Stock Option Allocations Seed Stage Compensation What are typical compensation numbers?

CTO Hire 329

CTO Hire Equity Seed Stage Option Pool 329

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 2, 2011

This week they set out to create their cap table and hire a CTO. They come up with two options: Hire Praveena as an employee and offer her stock options. Bring Praveena in as a founder and offer 10-20% of the company as stock. The founders each have common shares that will vest over four years.

Cap Table 133

Cap Table CTO Hire Technical Cofounder Cofounder 133

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 9, 2020

The rest can come from early hires (with stock options to assure commitment), equity investors, or even strategic partners. I’m not suggesting that you need all six of these as cofounders initially, but I always recommend a minimum of two founders with different perspectives.

Technical Cofounder 308

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Stock Options 308

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 17, 2013

I’ve never really understood why the majority of stock option refresh grants are stacked grants mid-way through the granting process. Assume you hire someone and grant them 10,000 options with monthly vesting of four years with a one year cliff. options / month, or 2,500 / year.) Let me give an example.

Stock Options 134

Stock Options Stock Vesting Retention 134

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 10, 2022

Thus if you want to change the world with your new business, you need to follow the example of startups like Zappos , which hires according to cultural fit first. Good hiring, training, and mentoring are the best motivators. Investors have long agreed that you invest in the team, more than the product.

Stock Options 362

Stock Options Salary Leadership Stock 362

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2014

Trying to save money by recruiting family members, or hiring only interns, is a bad risk. Great team members may take more time to find, and cost you stock options, but a qualified and highly motivated team that stretches your budget is a good calculated risk. Recruit the best team members and provide incentives.

Startup 283

Startup Forecast Stock Options Technical Review 283

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2018

Trying to save money by recruiting family members, or hiring only interns, is a bad risk. Great team members may take more time to find, and cost you stock options, but a qualified and highly motivated team that stretches your budget is a good calculated risk. Recruit the best team members and provide incentives.

Forecast 161

Forecast Stock Options Technical Review Metrics 161

Up and Running

DECEMBER 1, 2015

If however you are giving a “normal employee” an incentive stock option plan (more on that later), that’s entirely different. Make sure you understand all of your options before making any decisions. When business owners decide to go down the route of equity compensation, there are two primary options to choose between.

Equity 60

Equity Employee Stock Options Vesting 60

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2018

The rest can come from early hires (with stock options to assure commitment), equity investors, or even strategic partners. I’m not suggesting that you need all six of these as cofounders initially, but I always recommend a minimum of two founders with different perspectives.

Technical Cofounder 144

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Startup 144

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2014

The rest can come from early hires (with stock options to assure commitment), equity investors, or even strategic partners. I’m not suggesting that you need all six of these as cofounders initially, but I always recommend a minimum of two founders with different perspectives.

Technical Cofounder 245

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Startup 245

Women Entrepreneurs Can

FEBRUARY 8, 2023

Additionally, consider offering incentives such as bonuses or stock options to reward employee performance. Investing in the growth and development of your staff through training, continuing education, and professional certifications can help create a motivated and productive workforce, which will lead to improved business operations.

Artificial Inteligence 52

Artificial Inteligence Guerilla Technical Review Stock Options 52

Up and Running

OCTOBER 19, 2021

As a startup looking to hire your dream team, this news can be exciting. Stock options, restricted stock, or performance shares can make your offer more attractive to the right candidate. After all, the fate of your company largely depends on your ability to assemble the best possible talent.

Startup 127

Startup Salary Stock Options Employee 127

www.thedailymuse.com

SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

We’re Hiring. What Start-ups Should Know About Hiring a Lawyer. Hiring and working with a lawyer is often confusing and daunting, especially if you’ve never done it before. What should new entrepreneurs look for when hiring a lawyer? Hiring employees. We’re Hiring. Get Involved. Meet the Team.

Hiring 56

Hiring LLC Intellectual Property Private Equity 56

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2016

Every startup should have at least a couple of outside advisors who are not major investors or family members, anxious to talk to new investors and key new hires. Calculate employee stock option values and vesting times, as well as salary. Any outside advisors or board members available for discussion?

Burn Rate 120

Burn Rate Sweat Equity Technical Review Intellectual Property 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2020

Thus if you want to change the world with your new business, you need to follow the example of startups like Zappos , which hires according to cultural fit first. Good hiring, training, and mentoring are the best motivators. Investors have long agreed that you invest in the team, more than the product.

Product 322

Product Stock Options Salary Leadership 322

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2015

Every startup should have at least a couple of outside advisors who are not major investors or family members, anxious to talk to new investors and key new hires. Calculate employee stock option values and vesting times, as well as salary. Any outside advisors or board members available for discussion?

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Due Diligence Burn Rate Sweat Equity 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

Trying to save money by recruiting family members, or hiring only interns, is a bad risk. Great team members may take more time to find, and cost you stock options, but a qualified and highly motivated team that stretches your budget is a good calculated risk. Recruit the best team members and provide incentives.

Startup 120

Startup Forecast Stock Options Technical Review 120

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

Forget to get around to setting up that Employee Stock Option Plan and want to be able to give the early guys their options at a low strike price? I know he’s smart but you wouldn’t hire a Javascript developer to do your database design – would you? Shame about that pesky FAS 157 ruling.

Southern California 318

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

www.drowningamerican.com

JUNE 22, 2012

Next → How we Hire for Sweat Equity (Part 2)… Posted on April 7, 2011 by Travis Biziorek. The first time we hired partners for Kibin was way back in late 2009. I’ve heard people say it’s impossible to hire good developers right now. I want to hire before I have the ability to pay anyone.

Sweat Equity 40

Sweat Equity Equity Hiring Technical Review 40

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

It was a stock option incentive related “expense” but I bet you didn’t know that because in an era where we only read the headlines — they must be a train wreck losing billions. If you don’t have a strong balance sheet and can’t hire more people that’s fine — but understand this may lead to slower growth. Two-f **g-billion!

Stock Options 227

Stock Options Startup Dilution Venture Capital 227

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2015

The rest can come from early hires (with stock options to assure commitment), equity investors, or even strategic partners. I’m not suggesting that you need all six of these as cofounders initially, but I always recommend a minimum of two founders with different perspectives.

Technical Cofounder 120

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Stock Options 120

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 22, 2010

I never hire job hoppers. You have tough choices to make about whom you hire on your team. Now is the time that you need “all hands on deck.&# That awesome gal you hired in engineering has job options and she knows it. And he has already vested 75% of his stock options at your company.

Hiring 392

Hiring Employee Vesting Silicon Valley 392

prosperati.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Hiring Of all the issues we ran into when we first built our team, hiring was the most critical. So when you first start building your team, the most important hire should be your lead architect. The cliches of hiring the best of the best is as true in Malaysia as it is in the US. Culture creation is not easy.

Offshore 40

Offshore Malaysia Developer Stock Options 40

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

o Early on they hired 3 people from ACT software at once (more team hiring) on staff and supplement it with Agency (in LA worked with First Communications – good). Mark: 10% warrant coverage is like stock options. o CPM model gave him control over the information in the acquisition cycle so he focused on that. -

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Warrant Customer Term Sheet 304

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

For a well-funded seed company I have controversially recommended hiring a great office manager that doubles as an administrative assistant. This happens because many CEOs are passionate, market-driven people who are constantly trying to launch new products, win contracts, get press, hire staff and woo VCs. HR & Legal.

Operations 150

Operations Metrics Early Stage Non-Compete 150

crowdSPRING Blog

OCTOBER 10, 2014

“the people you fire are more important to your [company''s] culture than the people you hire.” Stock option questions startup employees should ask | Business Insider – crowdspring.co/1n8lUje. 5 Ways to Hire the Best Talent for Your Startup Team – crowdspring.co/1ptyfds. React – crowdspring.co/1yHa1WB.

Social Media 97

Social Media Small Business Design Media 97

Up and Running

MARCH 7, 2018

Aside from the time-consuming tasks of screening potential employees, interviewing, and re-hiring , losing and replacing employees is expensive. Hire the right people. This may seem obvious, but it’s worth mentioning: the best way to ensure that employees don’t leave your new company is to hire the right people to begin with.

Employee 91

Employee Startup Salary Hiring 91

Up and Running

JANUARY 4, 2017

Hiring the right employees. See Also: How to Hire Your First Employee. Stock options, increased pay over time, a flexible schedule, and use of work resources are all great incentives for snagging yourself a talented new employee. Overall, just focus on hiring the right people—the people with potential.

Small Business 122

Small Business Social Media Stock Options Employee 122

Hunter Walker

MAY 1, 2022

No, not their stock options or employment (job cuts are almost certainly coming but we’re in a robust market for talent and I’m assuming there are already many folks proactively looking for new opportunities), but the internal communications that sit within HQ. Yes friends, TwikiLeaks is looming.

Email 138

Email Stock Options Stock Naming 138

The Startup Magazine

DECEMBER 17, 2023

Consider also offering performance bonuses, stock options, or profit-sharing plans as additional incentives. Encourage diversity in hiring practices and create an inclusive environment where all employees feel valued and respected regardless of their background.

Employee 106

Employee Stock Options Programming Leadership 106

Hunter Walker

OCTOBER 24, 2013

Once we’ve invested in a company, I find it easiest to talk about culture in terms of hiring because it’s (a) often the most important post-financing activity and (b) it’s an immediate use case with real tangible decisions. One which will make the successive hires and functioning of the team easier. Me : Awesome.

Hiring 103

Hiring Advisory Board Ruby Stock Options 103

www.joelonsoftware.com

MARCH 24, 2010

When we decide to hire someone, the interviewers who were involved in the "hire" decision will sit down with the candidates resume and salary history and figure out what level they will start at. If we hire people in other cities, we will simply use industry-standard COLA adjustments to set salaries in other cities.

Software Review 48

Software Review Stock Options Salary Technical Review 48

VC Adventure

AUGUST 15, 2018

These costs have come down a lot since then, and the rules have been tweaked a bit but the overall 409A framework still is as it was when originally adopted – companies must hire a 3rd party to value their stock each year.

Valuation 48

Valuation Common Stock Cap Table Software Review 48

Hunter Walker

JUNE 7, 2022

Extend Your Stock Option Exercise Period. The ‘average’ startup offers a 90 day period post employment where you have to exercise any vested stock options before forfeiting them back to the company. And finally, two conversations to have with yourself.

Stock Options 94

Stock Options Vesting Stock Valuation 94

Ben's Blog

OCTOBER 6, 2011

From hire to retire, how good is your company? Some of the questions that they will help you answer: Recruiting and hiring. How do your salary and stock option packages compare to the companies that you compete with for talent? Is your management team world-class in all phases? How do you know? Training and Integration.

Management 78

Management Development Team Review Stock Options Technical Review 78

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

If the best client success person is in Oklahoma instead of LA, we’re going to hire her, (in fact, we did). Hire versatile players and lean into your team The SVB collapse reminded us that staffing matters. It emphasized to us that we need to make versatile hires with a focus on talent and ability to learn over experience.

Early Stage 111

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 111

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2018

Make them owners with stock options and actions. Hiring, recognition, and promotion must foster a culture of focus on job results, commitment, and growth. Make your expectations clear before hiring, including your ownership culture. Ownership can be financial or psychological.

Employee 180

Employee Stock Options Stock Leadership 180