Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

One great solution I see is to hire an outstanding CFO who runs both. I usually encourage people to think about titles like, “Founder & CTO&# or “Founder & VP Marketing.&#. Focus the most senior person in the company’s time away from critical decision making on daily business. and my favorite].

Operations 292

Operations CTO Hire Startup Early Stage 292

The Next Web

OCTOBER 7, 2013

They were referring to non-founder engineers, most commonly the first hire for technology businesses. Every time a startup raises capital, all common shareholders are diluted. In a CTO Salary and Equity trends report by Safire Partners, it finds non-founder equity compensation to settle out below 2 percent.

Engineer 129

Engineer Dilution Option Pool Vesting 129

The Next Web

OCTOBER 10, 2013

Hire everyone you need as an employee. Too dilutive.”. After launching our Windows online backup service five years ago, our CTO pitched that we should focus on launching our Mac version next. At that time, Mac computers made up a mere 6 percent of the market and I argued we needed to focus on other areas. Too many.”.

Cofounder 143

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Kenya Dilution 143

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2016

Level of responsibility and time allocated. Co-founders only able to work part-time, with responsibility and major income sources elsewhere, don’t carry the same risk as others with more operational responsibility. The CTO of many technical startups was the original founder.

Equity 120

Equity Cofounder Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property 120

rapidrollout.wordpress.com

JANUARY 15, 2011

Web Startup Lessons Advice from a CTO and Entrepreneur Home About Startup Advice: When to Use a Consulting CTO There are not many to be found. He or she might call himself a “consulting CTO,&# “freelance CTO,&# “on-demand CTO,&# “CTO on call,&# “CTO for hire,&# or just a “technology strategy advisor.&#

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO CTO CTO Hire Fractional VPE 40

Business Plan Blog

OCTOBER 4, 2013

Don’t hire people with skills and qualifications similar to yours. Hire based on functionality and avoid having too many C’s. This helps to better divide the work, make people accountable, and show investors just why each founder/hire is key to the organization. Hiring the right people at the right time is key.

Part-Time VPE 79

Part-Time VPE Fractional VPE Cofounder CTO Hire 79

thinkspace.com

SEPTEMBER 7, 2012

Should founders have anti-dilution rights? I was originally hired as a contractor, developing a SaaS app from scratch, including DB design and coding. Along the way, I was hired full time (I believe about 8 months after I started), a coder from India was hired and another contractor was added to the team.

Equity 62

Equity Employee Founder CTO Hire 62

www.avc.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

The most common comment in this long and complicated MBA Mondays series on Employee Equity is the question of how much equity should you grant when you make a hire. For your first key hires, three, five, maybe as much as ten, you will probably not be able to use any kind of formula. First, a caveat. Let's say the number is $25mm.

Equity 64

Equity Employee CTO Hire Fractional CTO 64

David Teten

OCTOBER 1, 2015

At the same time, a direct equity investment (one where the dev shop acquires a share in the company immediately) puts the founders in a potentially uneasy position of having to dilute their company before a product is built. During and after fundraising, we team with the founder to recruit for a full-time CTO to join the company.

Software Development 60

Software Development Software Developers Software Review Technical Cofounder 60

Startup Company Lawyer

MAY 4, 2009

Joe Betts-LaCroix – CTO, OQO. Hiring and Firing. July 14th, 2009: Implement hiring policies and practices. Description: When to hire and when to fire? How to hire the best vendors for the best rates. Mentors for the Summer 2009 Semester include: Trip Adler – CEO, Scribd. Jason Calacanis - CEO, Mahalo.

Founder 28

Founder Warrant San Francisco Intellectual Property 28

www.quora.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

As a result, there is a much bigger supply of these people than there are of founders who can get a company to the point of hiring some early employees. Unless you are a VC with preferred shares and anti-dilution protection and board control your equity in the company is worthless. more) Sign up for free to read the full text.

Equity 40

Equity Employee Founder Cofounder 40

The Next Web

JANUARY 24, 2014

Think of Werner Vogels (CTO of Amazon), Guido van Rossem (founder of Python programming language and senior engineer at Dropbox) or the more senior Gerard Kleisterlee (chairman of Vodafone). We have great intellectual property protection, and have efficient ways to enforce contracts. Think Philips Electronics, NXP, ASML and Tom Tom.

Netherlands 143

Netherlands Technical Review Stock Silicon Valley 143

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2012

Sacrifice and time commitment. A part-time commitment, while holding down a “real” paying job, is obviously not the same as a full-time executive role, especially if the cash compensation is nonexistent, deferred, or at high risk. Who will be the CEO, CFO, and CTO?

Intellectual Property 252

Intellectual Property Equity Cofounder CTO Hire 252

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2010

Sacrifice and time commitment. A part-time commitment, while holding down a “real” paying job, is obviously not the same as a full-time executive role, especially if the cash compensation is nonexistent, deferred, or at high risk. Who will be the CEO, CFO, and CTO?

Equity 228

Equity Intellectual Property Cofounder CTO Hire 228