CTO Hire Early Stage Valuation 
SoCal CTO
SEPTEMBER 27, 2011
I was asked by a reader how much equity he should give out to early employees and to service providers in a very early stage startup. Founders vs. Early Employees To help with this discussion, let me start with a definition of "early employee." If the company's valuation is $2 million, $90k is 4.5%.
Both Sides of the Table
JULY 22, 2010
Other founders, “as a privately held company we don’t disclose our valuation.&# Me, “dude, I’m not a journalist. I just want to figure out what a fair valuation is.&# I figured all the VC’s talked so we should. This starts with understanding how VCs and entrepreneurs often see valuation differently.
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Startup Professionals Musings
AUGUST 9, 2020
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. Amount of venture funding provided.
Steve Blank
APRIL 23, 2014
In response, venture capital firms like Sequoia and Andreessen/Horowitz are hiring new partners just to work with their portfolio companies and match them to corporations. VCs like acquisitions as much as IPOs because the acquiring companies often can rationalize paying large multiples over the current valuation of the startup.
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 30, 2013
A CEO who has “been there and done that” is traction, especially if teamed with a financial lead (CFO) and a product lead (CTO). Intellectual property is a large element of most early-stage company valuations, and this value determines what percent of the company an investor will expect to get for his money.
Startup Professionals Musings
AUGUST 4, 2014
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. Amount of venture funding provided.
Startup Professionals Musings
MAY 1, 2023
Level of responsibility and time allocated. Cofounders 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. Amount of venture funding provided.
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