The Equity Kicker

NOVEMBER 9, 2016

I just read a New York Times article that led with the sentence “Deep inside a Silicon Valley unicorn lurks a time bomb”. It turns out that ‘time bomb’ is the much maligned and, I suspect, little understood, liquidation preference. Furthermore, provided the instrument is kept simple (i.e.

Liquidation Preference 122

Liquidation Preference Silicon Valley Participating Preferred Common Stock 122

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 7, 2012

I’ve been writing up reviews of this season’s Shark Tank pitches from a silicon valley VCs perspective. Week three’s breakdown covered topics like how hard momentum is to turn around, and how participating preferred stock works. This time I’ll break down week four of this season. BACK 9 DIPS.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Technical Cofounder Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 110

Professor VC

JULY 25, 2013

It is the story of the founding of the venture capital industry in Silicon Valley and features many of the iconic companies created including Apple, Intel, Genentech and Cisco. Their response was that we should be happy they didn''t ask for a participating preference on top of the seniority.

Term Sheet 46

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Syndicate Syndication 46

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

I took money with a 3x participating preferred liquidation preference with 8% compounded interest annually. Coupled with my participating preferred from 1999 and 2000 I had more than $55 million of liquidation preferences. I’m assuming this in Silicon Valley, LA or similar locations.

Founder 329

Founder Liquidation Preference Term Sheet Warrant 329

Scott Edward Walker

NOVEMBER 26, 2017

Despite all the hype in the press (including with respect to the latest ICO craze), raising funds for your startup is still tough – particularly if you’re not located in San Francisco or Silicon Valley. Tip #1: Get Warm Referrals to “A” Investors.

Term Sheet 63

Term Sheet San Francisco Founder Investment Bankers 63

Professor VC

JUNE 6, 2016

However, in my 25 years in the Silicon Valley startup ecosystem, I've experienced the VC corollary to the golden rule much more often: "He has the gold makes the rules!" I can just picture Mr. Rogers saying "Children, can you say participating preferred stock with an uncapped 3x liquidation preference and a full ratchet?"

Syndicate 28

Syndicate Syndication Ratchet Cap Table 28