article thumbnail

Why Uber is The Revenge of the Founders

Steve Blank

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 278
article thumbnail

Punch & Pie: How Should Co-Founders Divide Equity?

Agile VC

I like to say that “there are only co-founders” — it’s extraordinarily rare for a successful business to have just a sole founder. But not all co-founders are equal in terms of title, ownership, responsibilities, and so forth. Sometimes co-founders put off the equity split question for some time.

Cofounder 255
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Punch & Pie: How Should Co-Founders Divide Equity?

Agile VC

I like to say that “there are only co-founders” — it’s extraordinarily rare for a successful business to have just a sole founder. But not all co-founders are equal in terms of title, ownership, responsibilities, and so forth. Sometimes co-founders put off the equity split question for some time.

Cofounder 173
article thumbnail

8 Keys To Maximizing Your New Venture Stock Net Worth

Startup Professionals Musings

Every entrepreneur needs to understand the following basics, to be addressed at company formation, as they engage a qualified attorney to draw up the paperwork: Allocate founder’s stock commensurate with commitment. Key founder vesting should have no cliff. Retain the right to reclaim stock from anyone leaving the startup.

Stock 240
article thumbnail

How To Prevent Your Founder’s Shares From Vaporizing

Startup Professionals Musings

Every entrepreneur needs to understand the following basics, to be addressed at company formation, as they engage a qualified attorney to draw up the paperwork: Allocate founder’s stock commensurate with commitment. Key founder vesting should have no cliff. Retain the right to reclaim stock from anyone leaving the startup.

Vesting 298
article thumbnail

These 8 Disciplines Define A Fundable Entrepreneur

Startup Professionals Musings

A popular approach these days seems to be for founders to regale investors early with a pitch touting the newest “million-dollar idea.” A C-corporation is more complex and expensive, and is recommended only if you expect to pitch to professional investors who demand preferred stock, or to more than 100 potential shareholders.

article thumbnail

How to Divide Founder Equity: 4 Criteria to Discuss

View from Seed

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. I like to say that “there are only co-founders” — it’s extraordinarily rare for a successful business to have just a sole founder.

Equity 315