Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

A version of this article is in the Harvard Business Review. 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. This seems to be occurring more and more.

Founder 281

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 281

Agile VC

APRIL 17, 2011

Kayak was started here in my backyard of Boston… co-founder & CTO Paul English and the product/engineering team is based here in Concord MA. Co-founder & CEO Steve Hafner and the business team are based in Norwalk, CT. Kayak Software Corporation. Founding Date: 2004. Series A Preferred.

Pre-Money Valuation 113

Pre-Money Valuation Liquidation Preference Dividend Common Stock 113

Scott Edward Walker

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

Question My co-founders and I are working on a cool new site, and we’ll be ready to launch in a few weeks. Otherwise, if one of the founders quits after a few months, he would take all of his shares with him. In short, this is a nightmare scenario – particularly if there is bad blood with the other co-founders.

Vesting 89

Vesting Software Review IP Intellectual Property 89

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 25, 2015

Typically, investors will be interested in “preferred” stock, which comes with special (aka “preferred”) rights, such as receiving a certain payout before anyone who holds “common” stock. The ownership structure of an LLC is a blank slate. Down the line, a potential buyer may prefer the predictable structure of a corporation.

LLC 100

LLC Technical Review Software Review Limited Liability Company 100

Startup Company Lawyer

MARCH 14, 2010

Founders Institute Plain Preferred Term Sheet (by WSGR – disclaimer, I represent the Founders Institute and was involved in drafting this document). I also reviewed the TechStars documents last year and they are similar in concept to the Y Combinator documents as the chart below indicates.). under $500K). Legal fees.

Finance 70

Finance Software Review Term Sheet Liquidation Preference 70

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 26, 2009

They take common stock, not preferred, a fact that the entrepreneurs mentioned to me many times. Im also excited to share two long-form reviews from actual attendees. More recently it's skewed to software & web. Revisiting the Software Design Manifesto (and what. August 29, 2009 8:54 AM Ben Casnocha said.

San Francisco 113

San Francisco Silicon Valley Startup Lean 113

venturehacks.com

MARCH 21, 2008

Advisor compensation Whether you’re hiring a normal advisor or super advisor: Advisory shares are usually issued as common stock options. Advisory shares are normal common stock. We’re founders (Epinions), investors (Twitter), students (life), and advisors (billions). Read some fun reviews of this site.

Advisory Board 44

Advisory Board Cap Table Vesting Equity 44